Faux policiers

Despite its b-film status, this is really quite a good film. It works well as a traditional caper movie, with fine scenes of suspense, but it stands out especially for the cinematic tension created between Belinda Lee's character and the little boy, to me as fine an example of pure cinema as I've seen, the kind of thing one might otherwise find in an Ingmar Bergman movie. This is a paradigm example of suspense, as we wonder if the Lee's character can make psychological contact with the boy, as the boy moves further apart from her. The bland close-ups on the boy work for the film, since we can never read what is going on in his mind as we wait to see if he will reconcile with the woman or not. Also noteworthy is the ambivalent ending, when one might otherwise expect a more conventional reunion, as far as I can go without revealing a spoiler.