Uncertain Entertainment
Evidently "Certain Prey" is an adaptation of a John Sandford novel, now if you don't know that and like me have never read any of his novels I suggest giving this made for TV movie a miss. I say that because within the first few minutes we are smashed senseless with too much info, too many characters and all too quickly making it incredibly hard to make sense of. Now if you have read the books I am presuming you know the characters and so making sense of it all is easy but for those who don't it is both messy and very cheesy. But it continues and "Certain prey" ends up bordering on too cheesy to be taken seriously.
As for the storyline, well a cop has been killed and Minneapolis Deputy Police Chief, Lucas Davenport (Mark Harmon - Freaky Friday) thinks it might have been done by Clara Rinker (Tatiana Maslany - An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving) who following been raped became an expert hit woman. But there is also attorney Carmel Loan (Lola Glaudini) who as we quickly learn went through a drug dealer to hire Clara to kill the cop but who then tries to blackmail her except Carmel is to clever for him.
That short synopsis only covers part of the story as Lucas ends up becoming a target but it also makes sense of the messy opening which chops and changes all the time. Now again I am sure that for those who have read the book it will all be simple to follow but not only is it messy for those who watch "Certain prey" with no knowledge but a little corny rather than quirky which I am sure was intended. But worse is that it ends up uninteresting because every time it leads somewhere it tells you everything up front so that it almost become a pointless movie.
The one thing it has going for it is the look as it looks sharp and stylish. Now I don't know how close Mark Harmon looks to the character of Lucas Davenport in the book but he also has the look but unfortunately that is all he has because the character has no charisma at all. On the other end of the scale you have Lola Glaudini who ends up over the top as Carmel which means that anyone else she shares a scene with her also has to be over the top.
What this all boils down to is that "Certain prey" was poor for me but I would imagine that fans of the novels might tell you otherwise.
