Freedomland (2006)

You Don't Know Carjack

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

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Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Edie Falco deliver the grand-slam performances largely missing from this year's Oscar lineup. Jackson plays Lorenzo, a cop whose territory includes a mostly-black New Jersey suburb, where Brenda Martin (Moore) teaches. Dazed and bloody, she wanders into a hospital claiming that she's been carjacked and that her four year-old son is missing. When the police descend upon the neighborhood searching for the kidnapper, Lorenzo must straddle both worlds and keep an uneasy peace. Falco co-stars as a mother who specializes in searching for lost children. Hack director Joe Roth (America's Sweethearts, Christmas with the Kranks) unexpectedly steps up for this one, focusing on the well-built characters and allowing them to carry the potentially dubious story. Richard Price adapted his 1998 novel.

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard, William Forsythe, Aunjanue Ellis, Anthony Mackie, LaTanya Richardson, Clarke Peters
Written by: Richard Price, based on his own novel
Directed by: Joe Roth
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violent content
Running Time: 112 minutes
Date: February 17, 2006