This is a pretty standard suspense/action kind of movie. There's a mad bomber on the loose in Seattle and the bomb squad calls in its retired former head John Pierce (played by Sam Elliott) to help out. But the bombs are so well made that eventually suspicion turns on to Pierce himself as the bomber. Is he or isn't he? And if he isn't, who is? In most respects this is unmemorable, and it makes extensive use of the cliche "countdowns" as the timers on various bombs are clicking down to zero. The performances were so-so at best. The ultimate revelation of who the bomber was doesn't come as any surprise at all. Basically what you have here is a time waster - that comes replete with a bizarre and completely unnecessary scene where Pierce is enjoying intimacy (shall we say) with a TV newswoman who has allowed herself to be handcuffed as part of the fun. I still don't understand why that was written into the script. It wasn't especially "sexy" and it really had nothing whatsoever to do with the story. I did find the last bomb to be unsettling. The movie isn't horrible. To be honest, I'm not sure there's much more to be said about it. (5/10)
Review of The Final Cut
