Amber Alert

Strong central performances elevate throwback thriller.

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“Amber Alert” (in select theaters and available on VOD beginning Friday, Sept. 27) is reminiscent of the high concept thrillers that were so en vogue in the early-to-mid aughts, i.e. 2003’s “Phone Booth” and 2004’s “Cellular” (both written in part by the late, great sleazemeister Larry Cohen), and on that level it’s an exciting throwback exercise.

Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) is a young professional who’s late for a personal engagement. She enlists the services of off-meter ride-share driver Shane (Tyler James Williams), who reluctantly accepts despite having an appointment of his own.

Quickly into the trip their phones go off signaling an Amber Alert and sooner still they spot what they believe is the vehicle named in the warning. At Jaq’s insistence they pursue the black Toyota Camry despite the fact that it’s one of the most driven cars on the road.

Aiding Jaq and Shane in their pursuit are emergency dispatcher Cici (Saidah Arrika Ekulona) and her supervisor Sgt. Casey (Kevin Dunn). No one’s certain if the kidnapped Charlotte Bryce (Ducky Cash … great name!) is in said Camry, but for the benefit of the girl’s mother Monica (Katie McClellan) they’re damned sure gonna find out. This includes directly engaging The Man (Kurt Oberhaus) driving the car and in Jaq’s case dropping an AirPod into the vehicle’s interior so they can hear what’s going on inside.

“Amber Alert” as directed by Kerry Bellessa and scripted by Bellessa and Joshua Oram is a bigger budgeted reimagining of their project of the same name from 2012. It has plenty of lapses in logic, but is engaging enough that these issues weren’t insurmountable. Jaq and Shane admittedly do some crazy shit, but their bravery also moved me. The way in which Panettiere and Williams play these characters and play off one another elevates the material at every turn. They have real deal chemistry.

I also dug that the filmmakers shot Louisville, Ky. for Louisville, Ky. (a lot of productions film there, but it’s often substituting for someplace else) and enjoyed seeing places I’d been to and knew on screen.

“Amber Alert” depicts any parents’ worst nightmares realized and therefore may be a tough watch for many, but there’s enough good here to make this a recommendable ride.