P2

(2007)***

With a reputation of being selfish, Angela realizes that she better show up at her family’s Christmas Eve party, where her nieces and nephews are eagerly awaiting her arrival. A phone call to her sister suggests that Angela has been unreliable in the past and has blown off such family events. When we first spy Angela she is trying hard to leave work but obstacles keep getting thrown in her way (e.g., think Steve Martin at the beginning of Planes, Trains and Automobiles). It is made clear that she is at work later than most (oh you young go-getter!) and that most others have left for the day. The film almost perseverates on this point (yeah, we get it). Laden with gifts, Angela slowly makes her way to the parking garage, which is desolate and the size of a city. Once settled in her car she finds that the engine will not turn over, shit! The silly goose even tries her cell phone, which of course says “No signal”. Making her way to the security booth she meets Thomas, a young, somewhat creepy security guard who offers to help jump her battery (keep your mind out of the gutter, folks). When this (of course) fails, he lets her back into the main building, where she calls a cab and falls asleep. Awoken by her cell phone she sees that cab out the window. However when she reaches the front doors of the building they are all locked. Panicking she runs back down to the parking garage to look for Thomas, who is nowhere to be seen. As she makes her way through the garage the lights begin to go off one by one. All of a sudden a shawdowy figure grabs her from behind and when she eventually wakes up she is sitting at a dinner table in a new (hot) dress with a table full of food and decorations. Thomas is only too eager to please and offers to pour her some wine. Oh yeah, she is chained to the table I forgot to mention that. The rest of P2 follows Angela as she desperately attempts to escape P2 of the parking garage while dealing with a sociopath who has already blocked all the escape paths and has figured all the angles.

Why not just pull a fire alarm, I asked myself early on in the film? Okay, okay, I’m being a spoilsport. P2 is a lot of fun! True you have to suspend disbelief in a huge way, think Aretha Franklin huge, in order to get into P2. You must believe that this posh, mammoth-sized building on Park Avenue would only have one security guard. You also have to believe that not a single person would remain in the building – I mean, not everyone celebrates Christmas right? You must accept that cell phones simply don’t work down there, and you also have to believe that things like explosions, fire, and floods, would go largely unnoticed. But suspend away, it’s more fun if you do, I promise! This is a ridiculous movie that sports a cast I didn’t hate, which is important if you’re going to get into such things – no Pacey here! Thomas does a great job at playing a sociopath and Angela is a scrappy chick who is able to foil and spoil some of Thomas’ plans. The ending is quite satisfying. P2 is better than it has a right to be.