In 2012, a “found footage” film called “Amber Alert” was released. It had a pretty interesting premise, but a pretty sloppy presentation (common in found footage projects). A group of children hear an Amber Alert and see the car on the road. They chase him, leading to all sorts of improbable turns and behavior that makes no sense, all “captured” by cell phone cameras. The main thing I remember about the “Amber Alert” is that everyone was screaming all the time. The characters argued from start to finish and everything felt chaotic and formless. Now here we are, in 2024, with another film with the same title and setting. They’re basically the same movie, although the recent one ditches the found footage approach. Kerry Bellessa directed both films. As Yogi Berra once said, “It’s deja vu all over again.”
Remaking a film you initially shot 12 years ago is an interesting idea. But has anything improved? There are so many stories in the world. Why tell him this twice? The 2012 film was clearly shot on a micro-budget and the found footage aspect had all the typical problems of the “genre.” The 2024 version is more stylized and polished, the acting is much better, and in some ways it’s easier to watch, even with its absurd ending sequence. The setup is a bit complicated, but is as follows:
An 8-year-old girl named Charlotte disappears from the park while playing hide-and-seek with her brother. The mother panics. She was recording videos of her baby and sees her daughter standing next to a black car in the background. She immediately calls the police. Meanwhile, a young woman named Jaq (Hayden Panettiere) orders an out-of-order rideshare. She arrives late and is desperate. The driver, Shane (Tyler James Williams), has to return home for her son’s birthday, but agrees to give her a ride since he’s on the way. They both get the Amber Alert on their phone, and a couple minutes later, they think they see the car. They call the police and basically chase the car wherever it goes.
It’s an exciting setup, and Panettiere and Williams create believable chemistry from casual chat. Shane doesn’t want to get involved in the Amber Alert car chase, but is convinced by Jaq’s passion and urgency. The police are overwhelmed by the tips coming in (including those from Jaq and Shane) and end up supporting the two detectives, basically doing their job for them.
Saidah Arrika Ekulona makes a strong impression as the dispatcher who takes the initial call. She convinces the sergeant (Kevin Dunn) that they should issue an Amber Alert, even though they have no license plate and the car is a Camry (needle in haystack territory). Once Jaq and Shane’s journey takes over, Ekulona virtually disappears from the film and the film loses its perspective. There are quite a few good “dispatcher” movies (with 2018’s “The Guilty,” directed by Gustav Möller, the clear winner). Ekulona is mostly alone on her phone, her urgency and competence filling the screen. The dispatcher lives in the real world. Jaq and Shane are clearly in a movie. They both come with backstories, presumably making them even more empathetic to the missing girl’s plight. All of this is unnecessary and drags down the “Amber Alert.” We don’t need to hear about Jaq’s past to “understand” why he cares about the missing girl.
The film has a propulsive pace and cinematographer Luka Bazeli occasionally uses drone shots to highlight the smallness of the car and the impossibility of the search. (Drone shots can be effective, but sometimes I miss traditional helicopter shots, which give reality and humanity to the action on screen. “Dog Afternoon” with drone shots instead of helicopters flying overhead would not be the same movie.) .
“Amber Alert” is supposedly about the Amber Alert system (a couple of title cards appear at the end detailing the history of the system and how many children it has saved). The film can’t help but become an episode of “Criminal Minds” in its final sequence. Jaq and Shane take incredible risks and their behavior is often incomprehensible. The overall feeling is not real danger, but rather an obligation to check the “thriller” boxes. Once the final showdown begins, it’s strictly from the playbook. “Amber Alert” works as a thriller at times, but it has serious aspirations. He wants to “say” something. These two things don’t go together.