Jane Doe (2001 film)

Last updated
Jane Doe
Genre Action
Thriller
Written byKevin Elders
Directed byKevin Elders
Starring Teri Hatcher
Rob Lowe
Theme music composer Brian Tyler
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersSteve Richards
Alan Schechter
CinematographyAdam Kane
EditorAlain Jakubowicz
Running time91 minutes
Production company USA Films
Original release
Network USA Network
ReleaseDecember 11, 2001 (2001-12-11)

Jane Doe is a 2001 American made-for-television action thriller film starring Teri Hatcher and Rob Lowe directed and written by Kevin Elders. The film premiered on USA Network on December 11, 2001.

Contents

Background

Elders had written the script seven years before its release; according to Hatcher, studios were reluctant to pick it up because the lead character was a woman. The filmmakers planned to release Jane Doe abroad in theaters in addition to its USA network premiere [1]

Plot summary

Jane Doe (Hatcher) is the real name of arms manufacturer Cy-Kor's recently fired security password employee with top clearance, whose teenage son Michael (Trevor Blumas) is kidnapped. She obeys the bizarre instructions, including getting and learning to use a gun and downloading a secret file (after which her work post starts totally deleting), dumping both in a dumpster and waiting nearby, only to witness the company's CEO Churnings being shot by a sniper using an identical weapon. Michael is released, but the pair is now wanted for the murder and both are abducted by armed men, who bring them to a ranch. There they are welcomed by Michael's father, David Doe (Lowe), who discloses to be an agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and so is Michael, who used her clearance as the whole thing is a sting for the kidnapping and murder's brain, Avery (Mark Caven) so he will sell the enemy false data. However, David's DIA-partner Kurt Simmons and their boss Phelps have a dirty agenda.

Critical reception

Jane Doe received primarily poor reviews. The San Francisco Chronicle called the film a "frenetic failure." [2] The New York Daily News wrote that the plot was "full of holes" and that the acting and special effects were poor. [3] The South Florida Sun-Sentinel said the film "relies solely on star power to attract and hold an audience." [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Seven</i> (1995 film) American film by David Fincher

Seven is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, with Gwyneth Paltrow, and John C. McGinley in supporting roles. Set in an unnamed, crime-ridden city, Seven's narrative follows disenchanted, nearly retired detective William Somerset (Freeman) and his newly transferred partner David Mills (Pitt) as they try to stop a serial killer from executing a series of murders based on the seven deadly sins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teri Hatcher</span> American actress (born 1964)

Teri Lynn Hatcher is an American actress and singer best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), Paris Carver in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Mel Jones and the Beldam in Coraline (2009), and Susan Mayer on the television series Desperate Housewives (2004–2012), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

<i>Silver Bullet</i> (film) 1985 film by Dan Attias

Silver Bullet is a 1985 American horror film based on the 1983 Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, and Corey Haim, with Megan Follows, Terry O'Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon in supporting roles. The film is directed by Dan Attias, written by King and produced by Martha De Laurentiis.

<i>Models Inc.</i> American drama television series

Models Inc. is an American prime time soap opera that aired on Fox during the 1994–95 television season. A spinoff of Melrose Place, it is the third series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series was created by Frank South and Charles Pratt Jr., and executive produced by Aaron Spelling, South, Pratt, and E. Duke Vincent. Models Inc. revolves around a Los Angeles modeling agency run by Hillary Michaels, the mother of Melrose Place's Amanda Woodward. The series lasted only a single season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Glatman</span> American serial killer

Harvey Murray Glatman was an American serial killer active during the late 1950s. He was known in the media as the Lonely Hearts Killer and the Glamour Girl Slayer. He would use several pseudonyms, posing as a professional photographer to lure his victims with the promise of a modeling career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cary Stayner</span> American serial killer (born 1961)

Cary Anthony Stayner is an American serial killer and the older brother of kidnapping victim Steven Stayner. He worked as a mechanic in Mariposa County, California, and murdered four women between February and July 1999, dumping their bodies near Yosemite National Park, leading to him being dubbed the Yosemite Park Killer or simply the Yosemite Killer. Stayner was found guilty and received the death penalty in 2002. He is currently awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison.

Painted Lady is a 1997 murder mystery drama starring Helen Mirren, involving art theft. It co-starred Franco Nero, Karl Geary and Iain Glen, and was directed by Julian Jarrold.

<i>Turbulence</i> (1997 film) 1997 American film

Turbulence is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Robert Butler, and starring Ray Liotta and Lauren Holly. It was distributed by MGM Distribution Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Stano</span> American serial killer (1951–1998)

Gerald Eugene Stano was an American convicted serial killer. Stano murdered at least 22 young women and girls, confessed to 41 murders, and the police say the number of his victims may be closer to 88.

<i>Along Came a Spider</i> (film) 2001 film by Lee Tamahori

Along Came a Spider is a 2001 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is the second installment in the Alex Cross film series and a sequel to the 1997 film Kiss the Girls, with Morgan Freeman and Jay O. Sanders reprising their roles as detective Alex Cross and FBI-agent Kyle Craig. The screenplay by Marc Moss was adapted from the 1993 novel of the same title by James Patterson, but many of the key plot elements of the book were eliminated. The film was a box office success, although receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from critics like its predecessor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Wilder</span> Australian serial killer (1945–1984)

Christopher Bernard Wilder, also known as the Beauty Queen Killer and the Snapshot Killer, was an Australian-American serial killer who abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them during a six-week, cross-country crime spree in the United States in early 1984. Wilder's series of murders began in Florida on February 26, 1984, and continued across the country through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and California, with attempted abductions in Washington and New York. Wilder victimized attractive young women, most of whom he would entice by promising to take their pictures. After subduing them, he would torture and rape them before shooting, stabbing with a knife, or strangling them to death. Two or more of his victims were electrocuted using a makeshift electrical cord.

<i>Kaalia</i> 1981 Indian film

Kaalia is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film, written and directed by Tinnu Anand, and produced by Iqbal Singh. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Parveen Babi, Asha Parekh, Kader Khan, Pran, Amjad Khan, K.N. Singh and Jagdeep. The music is by R.D. Burman, while the lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Fear is a 1990 American thriller/horror/suspense film. It is directed by Rockne S. O'Bannon and stars Ally Sheedy, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Michael O'Keefe, Lauren Hutton, Keone Young, Stan Shaw, Dean Goodman, Don Hood and Jonathan Prince.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tammy Lynn Leppert</span> American missing teen model and actress

Tammy Lynn Leppert was an American actress, model and beauty queen who went missing under mysterious circumstances at the age of 18.

<i>Paanch</i> 2003 Indian film

Paanch (transl. Five) is a 2003 Indian crime thriller film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap in his directing debut, starring Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Vijay Maurya, Joy Fernandes, and Tejaswini Kolhapure. The film is loosely based on the 1976–77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders in Pune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unidentified decedent</span> Term used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established

Unidentified decedent, or unidentified person, is a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established by police and medical examiners. In many cases, it is several years before the identities of some UIDs are found, while in some cases, they are never identified. A UID may remain unidentified due to lack of evidence as well as absence of personal identification such as a driver's license. Where the remains have deteriorated or been mutilated to the point that the body is not easily recognized, a UID's face may be reconstructed to show what they had looked like before death. UIDs are often referred to by the placeholder names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe". In a database maintained by the Ontario Provincial Police, 371 unidentified decedents were found between 1964 and 2015.

The Redhead murders is the media epithet used to refer to a series of unsolved homicides of redheaded females in the United States between October 1978 and 1992, believed to have been committed by an unidentified male serial killer. The murders believed to be related have occurred in states including Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The murders may have continued until 1992. The victims, many remaining unidentified for years, were usually women with reddish hair, whose bodies were abandoned along major highways in the United States. Officials believe that the women were likely hitchhiking or may have engaged in prostitution.

<i>The Autopsy of Jane Doe</i> 2016 supernatural horror film

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a 2016 supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal. It stars Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch as father-and-son coroners who experience supernatural phenomena while examining the body of an unidentified woman. It is Øvredal's first English-language film. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2016, and IFC Midnight released it on December 21, 2016. It grossed $6 million at the box office. The critical consensus at Rotten Tomatoes calls it "a smart, suggestively creepy thriller".

References

  1. Baca, Ricardo (9 December 2001). "Woman takes control in USA's 'Jane Doe' Teri Hatcher portrays a mother who confronts her son's kidnappers". Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
  2. Carman, John (11 December 2001). "'Jane Doe' a frenetic failure". San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. Bianculli, David (11 December 2001). "'Doe' E-plot full of holes". New York Daily News.
  4. Jicha, Tom (11 December 2001). "High-profile cast can't save cyber-age thriller". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.