Concrete Canyons

In Greeley County, Colorado, the former Sheriff Ben Sloane (Scott Patterson) is an efficient tracker that lives in an isolated cabin in the middle of the woods. After rescuing a young woman that has been abducted, Ben meets Sheriff Darryl Carter (Aaron Pearl) tells to him that his estranged son Nick (Andrew Dunbar) is the prime suspect of killing his co-worker Raymond "Ray" Correlli.

Ben heads to Chicago to meet the unfriendly Detective Susan Kincaid (Polly Shannon) that does not help him. Soon Ben learns that Nick is married with Maggie (Emilie Ullerup) and has a baby son; he worked in the Stetski Brothers Constructor and studied architecture at college. Ben also meets Nick's friend Danny Smalls (Chad Krowchuk) that tells to him that his job was indicated by his professor Hoffman (Ted Whittall). Ben goes to the crime scene and finds that Nick did not kill Ray and the crime scene was modified and he suspects that the construction company is hiding something. Will Ben be capable to find tracks to prove the innocence of his son?

The beginning of "Concrete Canyons" is engaging and despite the typical clichés of Kincaid and Nick reactions and the corny conclusion, it is enjoyable. The plot gets too complicated with a mafia scheme and is easily resolved in the end but the performances in general are good. I saw this movie with low expectation and I find it surprisingly good for a TV movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Caçada ao Assassino" ("Hunting Down the Killer")

This writer made the lead detective look stupid in his quest to cause conflict between her and nick. She overlooked obvious clues so that the conflict could continue. Horrible, horrible writing. I will never watch anything written by Breyer Freed again. I'm not a writer but I promise you I could have written a better script. Starting with having the Kincade work with Nick once she discovered that he had substance. This movie made kincade look as bad as the criminals nick was chasing down in that she didn't care if she caught the right guy or not. And don't get me started on the music. I suppose that's a Canadian thing.

A retired rural sheriff goes to the big city to clear his son of suspected murder ... along the way he meets a snot nose wet behind the ears female detective that couldn't smell manure on her shoes ... he also learns his son hes been married for 2 years and he has a grandson ... from his observations at the crime scene he derives the info he needs to start solving the case ... he's an accomplished law man and will get to the answers ...

For starters, the acting in this seems pretty good. I rarely blame the actors in these movies as it's not their fault -- they're just doing a gig. Anyhow, Showcase has been playing these terrible movies shot in Vancouver at least twice a week lately (gaaaahhd!) You would think these made-for-TV movies were written by 12 year old boys. There's so many clichés like when this guy Sloan (what an original macho name, isn't it, and he wears a cowboy hat and jean jacket) arrives in Chicago (yes, he even wears the hat and jacket in the city), which judging by the drizzle is actually Vancouver no doubt, he goes to the police station and this sort of pretty detective woman (when are police detectives female and pretty -- btw, her name is Kincaid, as in Ruben Kinkaid, manager of the Partridge Family, another original name) says to him right off the top, some cliché like "This is Chicago, Sloan, go back ^&%ing sheep in the Andes". Obviously she doesn't say exactly that but you get the idea, it's like one of these 'This is the big city Sloan, you're not back in rural Vancouver'. I'm not going to waste my time watching the rest of it because I'm pretty sure I know what happens -- she'll start getting impressed by his tracker skills and they'll do the nasty etc. etc. Waste your time watching it but don't say you weren't warned.

Great script and decent acting. Retired sheriff Sloane is a badass and has been out of touch with his son for three years. His son is accused of murder so he goes to Chicago to track him down. He does his own investigation and runs into trouble with the local police. There is a lot more this which makes it interesting, but don't want to spoil the movie.