Persons Unknown

Jim Holland (Mantegna), an ex-cop nursing an ailing Long Beach security business, knocks the beautiful Amanda (Lynch) off her feet, but has no idea what he's getting into. He wakes to find she's made herself at home in his filing cabinet. Next time they meet, Amanda's ripped off a sackful of drugs money, and he's stolen it right back. By now he's more interested in her sister Molly (Watts). There's something about a woman in a wheelchair. The breezy set-up promises a thriller in the Elmore Leonard vein: snappy dialogue, strong sense of place, quirky character detail. It's a shame that an hour in, just as everything's shaping up nicely, Hickenlooper's film regroups, resettles and rethinks. In essence, this consists of throwing away the plot and getting to know Jim, Amanda and Molly a whole lot better as they hole up in the High Sierras. Worse, the longer we spend in their company, the less interesting they seem, but at least JT Walsh is on hand with his trademark brand of shameless opportunism.