Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

LeonLouisRicci Tolerable Tale of an Abused Upper-Middle-Class Housewife that is forced to take a Stand against a Politically Correct Gang (not available in real life) and She has got the Right Stuff. The Catharsis of this Movie is Right-On if the Thing does have many Missteps and Wasted Opportunities.Carrying that Damn Toolbox around is a non-intelligent Laugh Getter and is the most Glaring of the Flaws. Although it is an Audience Identification Thriller that Delivers Enough of the Goods to be Satisfying, there are some Amateurish Highlights that Distract and Drag this Down to just Above Average for this type of Thing.Given the Contrivances and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief there are some things that cannot go Unchallenged. Let's have another Urinating Scene. For what? Does what? Shame on yet another "realism" Pretension that is just Annoying and a Modern Mainstay of Unnecessary Uncomfortableness. A Missed Opportunity for a Certified Cheer from the Audience...during the Sex Scene...unbuckle His belt slowly, loosen His pants, and insert Flare...that would have been Hot. The Final Line is a Cheat and a Big Disappointment.

alsation72 Della (a still youthful Kim Basinger) is a downtrodden home-maker with young children and a domineering husband. She ducks out to the mall on Christmas Eve to buy some wrapping paper. Unable to find a parking space she leaves a stern note on the windscreen of an inconsiderate driver who has occupied two spaces.When she leaves the mall the parking lot is empty except for the car she had left the note on. It turns out to be a group of thugs looking for trouble. They shoot a security guard who intervenes and Della speeds off; pursued by the gang of thugs who want to get rid of the witness.She crashes her car and hides, grabbing a red toolbox. As the gang chase her through building sites and forest she knocks them off one-by-one with different tools from the red toolbox.The surviving gang members get spooked, deciding that she had a taste for blood.This was a strange movie but in a wonderful way; Kim Basinger is like a deer caught in the headlights but wants to survive for her children, and she gets better and better at dispatching the gang members.When she gets home she is no longer scared of her nasty husband and the ending leaves it pretty clear that he is dead meat.This movie is very entertaining, and Kim Basinger is wonderful as the meek and mild housewife who becomes a ruthless killer.If you get the chance to, see it!

proletinchen I recently came across one of Lukas Haas movies and liked it very much. So I decided to look up what else he did. Let me tell you something- he either makes a very good movie, or a very bad one. This one is bad. Like, beyond bad. It is not scary, it is so unbelievable it hurts, the "action" is beyond pathetic. The so called love scene is embarrassing (embarassing because you must watch two very good actors do very stupid dialog, not to mention there is none, like 0 attraction between them.)Not that its the actors fault in any way. They did their best with what they've got - nothing unfortunately. The director should have thought it over -its really really THAT bad. Please, don't waste your time. This said, Kim Basenger is still a unique actress to me and I would watch her next movie.

Scarecrow-88 A suburban mother, Della(Basinger), from a gated community, who has endured an abusive marriage from an intense bullying husband, goes out to get wrapping paper, doesn't appreciate that a gang of punks parked out of place blocking a spot so she couldn't pull in there(it's Christmas eve and traffic's a bitch), leaving a note to them in anger. Dirtbag Haas and his wannabe gangsters enact a war with Della over something so trivial which starts after he shoots a "rent-a-cop" while in the midst of an argument(it's simple, the security cop wants Haas to leave Della alone and he refuses, resulting in multiple gun shots to the skull). It becomes a fight for survival as this band of thugs attempt to find and execute Della, resulting in their own demise. I love the premise of someone like this beautiful mom, cut off from what is the "real world", having tolerated her husband's nasty treatment over the years, finally snapping, with those who pushed her over the edge suffering the consequences. Haas has evolved from his cutesy child actor days and now plays all kinds of interesting characters, in WHILE SHE WAS OUT, he's equipped with one of those repellent scumbags, the kind of polarizing jerk who gets what's coming to him to the delight of the audience. Basinger is superb in a change-of-pace role, showing someone who has had enough, tired of being the victim, who takes it upon herself to stay alive by whatever means are at her disposal. Her Della is a bundle of nerves and all she wants to do really is get back to her kids(that's obviously enough motivation to do what is needed possible, right?). It's interesting how diverse this gang is, Asian, African-American, Latino, and Haas, their ringleader. All Della has is a tool box with weapons like a wrench and tire iron to use against her pursuers. Sure, it's strength in numbers at first, but as that dwindles, Haas will find that this bitch won't go down without a fight. Particularly interesting is when Haas' Chuckie sizes Della up and she, in turn, seduces him, using her seemingly ageless beauty as a means to buy herself some time. And, to see Della so completely liberated by this night, to put an end to the routine, she is able to face her husband and finish the movie with a bang. Craig Sheffer makes a brief, but impressionable, appearance as Basinger's loathsome husband. The plot isn't overly complicated and the pace is fast..it is rather funny that all this starts because of a parking space.