Robert Longfellow, a once-successful playwright, is taken hostage at gunpoint by an ex-con neighbor, Gus, while on a routine visit to his childhood home. Longfellow has avoided Gus since he was a boy. As the drama unfolds, social status, celebrity, politics, and the threat of violence converge, leaving the playwright simultaneously shattered and inspired.
As of January 2023[update], the film has a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 26 reviews.[5]
The New York Times found it "earnest" and "wooden", like a one-act play "in which any visceral tension is secondary to topical debates by a captor and his prisoner".[6] The Los Angeles Times found it "disappointing" and "somber", failing to generate any tension from its thriller elements.[7]
The Globe and Mail awarded it 2.5/5 and Adam Litovitz criticised some stagy elements but praised the film as a study of character.[8] The New York Post praised the performances, saying "both characters are riveting".[9]
