By Geno McGahee
I have a young daughter that loves ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS. We own the entire collection on Blu-ray and watch them with regularity. So, when I began watching COLUMBUS CIRCLE with Jason Lee, I couldn’t help but to think “there’s Dave.” I was waiting for him to scream “ALVIN!!!” Of course, he plays a much different character in this film and if they mixed some of these scenes into one of the chipmunk movies, people would think differently about Dave. Lee is an actor with a lot of versatility and has done a lot of different genres and did them well, but if you’re a father with a chipmunk fan living under your roof, it may be difficult to separate this Lee from the Lee in that film. I wish they gave him a beard here….something to make him look different. Freaking chipmunks.
Charles Standford (Lee) and his girlfriend, Lillian (Amy Smart), move into an apartment building after the death of an elderly woman. They are actually residing in the very apartment where the life was choked out of the old bird. Their next door neighbor, Abigail (Selma Blair), is afraid to leave her place due to some childhood trauma. She is a shut in with her only contact being her friend and psychologist, Dr. Ray Fontaine (Beau Bridges). This changes when she witnesses Charles beating up Lillian and sees the woman crying for help. She takes her in and begins to develop a friendship.
In the meantime, Detective Giardello (Giovanni Ribisi) and Detective Eaans (Jason Antoon) believe the old lady case is a homicide and are treating it as such. They have bits and pieces of information that make up part of the puzzle and could expose who Abigail is and who Charles and Lillian are. Each of them has a secret and an agenda, but Charles seems to be the most cold-blooded, although there are a few other characters that may give him a run for his money.
(SPOILERS)
Abigail lets Lillian into her life and now sees Charles as the abusive problem and she desperately wants to help this poor woman. She can relate to her. She was a survivor of abuse and nobody helped her, but she is now in a position to stop it from happening to another. Unfortunately, Lillian is deep in the game, and this has all been arranged. Abigail is an heir to a family fortune and that is why the old lady was snuffed and that is why they have created this beaten wife scenario. Charles and Lillian are working in cahoots with Fontaine, but they are on shaky ground. There is enough to put them all away for a long time if they don’t get away quickly.
A plan to scare Abigail fails as Charles breaks into her apartment while beating Lillian. Lillian grabs a gun and shoots Charles in the chest as Abigail comes from behind and starts stabbing him. He falls dead and Lillian panics, telling Abigail that they must run and take any money they have to get out of the country. Lillian steals Abigail’s pin number and leaves, posing as her and she enters the bank, but that’s when Abigail gets wise to the scam. She finds the fake bullet shot on Charles’s chest and realizes that that it was all an act.
At the bank, Lillian meets up with the bank manager, played by Samm Levine. I was trying to figure out where the hell I knew him from and it finally hit me. He was Pilgrim Boy from THE AQUABATS! SUPER SHOW! Levine was hilarious in that episode and he was great in this too. The mixture of his bad humor and Smart’s irritation made the scene great. In the end, Abigail beats Lillian and the good guys win.
COLUMBUS CIRCLE is a great film with some great performances and it takes two people that are known for playing likable roles and turns them into villains quite well. Both Jason Lee and Amy Smart put forth great efforts and, remarkably, Amy Smart becomes the more dislikable character at the end. Selma Blair was amazing in this as well and credit also to both Ribisi and Antoon for their roles in this. A lot of the time, I have a hard time not comparing films with detectives to LAW & ORDER and they always pale in comparison, but here, they really owned their roles and were convincing and interesting to watch.
Written by George Gallo and Kevin Pollak, COLUMBUS CIRCLE is a winner and I will also say that Pollak was great in his role of the shady doorman, Klandermann. Gallo would direct this and his track record throughout his career speaks for itself. This film made a point to do everything correct and they achieved it. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 8/10
