Atomic Train

I thought the first half of the movie was good enough for a TV movie once you get past the impossible premise. I look at the second half of the movie as two hours of my life I will never get back! The movie is worth renting for the family for a few dollars just so you don't have to sit through all the commercials (it comes to video on Sept. 21). Watch the first half, then turn it off and you'll be O.K., but if you're looking for a high-quality movie, though, you'll need to keep looking.

For lack of a harsher adjective, this movie was bad. I suppose you're not surprised, considering it's a TV movie with the requisite impossible plot, wimpy soundtrack and endless....endless.......poor writing.

My only question: Why on earth did Mena Suvari do this movie?

For a reality check, please digest these facts and compare them to the fiction of this mini-series:

**Nuclear weapons are no longer transported on trains in the U.S.

**Nuclear weapons are never armed when transported.

**Nuclear waste and nuclear weapons are NEVER transported together.

**Nuclear waste is transported in containers designed to withstand extraordinary external challenges (i.e. fire of 2000 F, impact of a locomotive at 80 mph, water immersion, sabotage, etc.).

**In the past 30 years, nearly 3,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel has been transported safely via highways and railways in the U.S., as have more than 45 million packages of radioactive materials.

**Eight containers have been involved in transit accidents. All remained intact with no release of radioactive material.

**The first priority of federal, state and local agencies who regulate shipments of radioactive materials is the safety and welfare of the public.

The whole movie is a nuclear bomb itself. It's three hours long! And it felt like three whole long days. This movie has a good concept, but a horrible delivery. There are way too many plot holes in the movie. It is so boring. The characters are all flat and one dimensional. While the lead actors are attractive, none of them are very talented. Kristin Davis, who is usually pretty good, is terrible here. It's not really her fault though, because her role was so unglamorous. Most of the other actors are also awful. Only Rob Lowe's performance comes close to being adequate.

One more thing, would you put a nuclear bomb on a train?!

Oh... no, wait. That's right. IT DID!!! This was on the "Rent three movies, get the 4th one free" rack. That should have been the first clue. I thought, "I'd watch anything with Mena Suvari in it." but, no. I'll never watch this again even if a later Director's Cut shows her wearing just a smile in a deleted scene. This movie, and ones like it, are a clear illustration as to why I usually fold laundry and do the ironing while I watch. Even if the movie sucks - as this one did, hard enough to pull a bowling ball through a garden hose - it's not a total waste of 2 hours. At least I got the laundry done. Oops, I need this to be ten lines. Okay, this movie, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, sucked.