This movie is well-edited, with plenty of atmosphere and great camera shots; unfortunately, you could drive a truck through the loopholes in the script. My 11 yr. old spotted a glaring inconsistency right away...which tells you something. The female lead lets the bad guy into her apartment; "Why is she doing that?!" my kid demands. "Because she doesn't know what he looks like," I respond (being the non-observant, gullible mom that I am). "Yes, she does! He was the Cable Guy!" So I'm left realizing that I would probably let the bad guy in, too. Sigh. I stayed with this movie until the end, and kinda enjoyed it. But I wouldn't watch it again. Not unless I had my kid around to save me from bad plot devices.
7 Reviews
Unlikable And Dumb
Theo Robertson20 May 2004
Warning: Spoilers
!!!! SPOILERS !!!!
Nice to see some of the comments on this page point out that TWILIGHT MAN falls apart if you think about it too much . I`m amazed that more people haven`t pointed out the ridiculous amount of plot holes since this one very dumb movie
Tim Matheson plays Jordan Cooper whose home is under secret survillence by Hollis Dietz ( Dean Stockwell ) who has managed to hack into every aspect of Cooper`s life and there`s no explanation as to how a computer hacker managed to get all these hidden cameras into Cooper`s home , in fact it`s insinuated that if you`re a computer expert you can hack into an electric alarm clock and turn it into a close circuit TV . Wow Bill Gates must know the ins and outs of my life in that case
So any way Cooper goes on the run after being falsely accused of murder with Dietz on his trail and we`re treated to more and more unlikely events and dialogue one example being when Cooper needs information from a woman whose husband experienced the same thing she says " I`m sure you`re a very nice young man " . Young man ? I looked up Mastheson`s profile on this site and he was born in 1947 which makes him 49 years old when this movie was made which is hardly young . I guess the producers had a much younger actor in mind for the lead but no one bothered to modify the dialogue after Matheson was cast . There`s also a ridiculous plot twist later one in the scene where Cooper spots a photograph of a woman who turns out to be his mother . The script is full of these unlikely coincidences , but perhaps the most unlikely event is when Cooper meets a woman on a train which leads to them getting a room together ( We`d all holiday in America if its women were that sociable ) and she asks him if he really killed his girlfriend . Cooper says he didn`t and she believes him - Until news reports claim Cooper may be a serial killer and it`s only then she phones the police which led me to ask why she thought he was innocent of one murder but not several others ?
So we`ve got a dumb movie that is obviously inspired by THE FUGITIVE . I didn`t like this movie at all due to umpteen unexplained occurances
Nice to see some of the comments on this page point out that TWILIGHT MAN falls apart if you think about it too much . I`m amazed that more people haven`t pointed out the ridiculous amount of plot holes since this one very dumb movie
Tim Matheson plays Jordan Cooper whose home is under secret survillence by Hollis Dietz ( Dean Stockwell ) who has managed to hack into every aspect of Cooper`s life and there`s no explanation as to how a computer hacker managed to get all these hidden cameras into Cooper`s home , in fact it`s insinuated that if you`re a computer expert you can hack into an electric alarm clock and turn it into a close circuit TV . Wow Bill Gates must know the ins and outs of my life in that case
So any way Cooper goes on the run after being falsely accused of murder with Dietz on his trail and we`re treated to more and more unlikely events and dialogue one example being when Cooper needs information from a woman whose husband experienced the same thing she says " I`m sure you`re a very nice young man " . Young man ? I looked up Mastheson`s profile on this site and he was born in 1947 which makes him 49 years old when this movie was made which is hardly young . I guess the producers had a much younger actor in mind for the lead but no one bothered to modify the dialogue after Matheson was cast . There`s also a ridiculous plot twist later one in the scene where Cooper spots a photograph of a woman who turns out to be his mother . The script is full of these unlikely coincidences , but perhaps the most unlikely event is when Cooper meets a woman on a train which leads to them getting a room together ( We`d all holiday in America if its women were that sociable ) and she asks him if he really killed his girlfriend . Cooper says he didn`t and she believes him - Until news reports claim Cooper may be a serial killer and it`s only then she phones the police which led me to ask why she thought he was innocent of one murder but not several others ?
So we`ve got a dumb movie that is obviously inspired by THE FUGITIVE . I didn`t like this movie at all due to umpteen unexplained occurances
Computer whiz runs amok
helpless_dancer11 April 2000
Farfetched tale of a computer geek who uses an elaborate online system to take over another man's entire history. He then frames the man for a pair of crimes that he had no knowledge of which leads to a big manhunt and, of course, the big showdown in the end. Nothing new, but still an enjoyable film.
Excellent - ahead of its time
GINNY B8 May 2003
Admittedly, these comments are being submitted well after this movie was made and subsequently, I have had an opportunity to catch up on some of the technology alluded to in this film. However, at the time of its production, I had no idea that people could "steal" your identity, to say nothing of the havoc and terror which could be perpetrated against an innocent victim. Not being familiar with computers and the possibility and realization of "hackers" being out there, so this film was an eye-opener and a wakeup call for me. (And NO, I had not seen "The Net" prior to seeing The Twilight Man, so there was not point of reference or comparison for me, as another person commented upon.
I thought Tim Matheson was outstanding showing both a vulnerability at being a victim and as an extremely determined individual, digging deeply into his unknown past to identify and track the person responsible for destroying his life.
The Lieutenant was extremely good - not giving away her suspicions as to Jordan Coopers guilt or innocence, and, while checking out leads as they came in, not jumping the gun; rather waiting for more evidence as to not only the suspect, but as to whether the acts were even committed by another person as alleged by Mr. Cooper.
Though several years have passed since the film was made, the twists, turns and surprises still make it a strong film and one of my favorites.
I thought Tim Matheson was outstanding showing both a vulnerability at being a victim and as an extremely determined individual, digging deeply into his unknown past to identify and track the person responsible for destroying his life.
The Lieutenant was extremely good - not giving away her suspicions as to Jordan Coopers guilt or innocence, and, while checking out leads as they came in, not jumping the gun; rather waiting for more evidence as to not only the suspect, but as to whether the acts were even committed by another person as alleged by Mr. Cooper.
Though several years have passed since the film was made, the twists, turns and surprises still make it a strong film and one of my favorites.
Great film!
Movie Nuttball9 August 2005
Twilight Man is a very good film that has a good cast which includes Tim Matheson, Dean Stockwell, L. Scott Caldwell, Joel Polis, Yvette Nipar, Georgann Johnson, Katherine La Nasa, Leslie Neale, Zachary McLemore, Jim Grimshaw, Rick Warner, Michael Harding, Andrew Masset, Desiree Marie Velez, Amy Parrish, Keith Flippen, and Jeffrey Pillars. The acting by all of these actors is very good. Matheson and Stockwell are really excellent in this film. I thought that they performed good. The thrills is really good and some of it is surprising. The movie is filmed very good. The music is very good by Gary Chang and good directing by Craig R. Baxley. The film is quite interesting and the movie really keeps you going until the end. This is a very good and thrilling film. If you like Tim Matheson, Dean Stockwell, L. Scott Caldwell, Joel Polis, Yvette Nipar, Georgann Johnson, Katherine La Nasa, Leslie Neale, the rest of the cast in the film, Thrillers, Mysrery, Dramas, and interesting Action films then I strongly recommend you to see this film today!
High-production value dreck
pfgpowell14 January 2002
Given that the US market is so much bigger and thus the financial rewards are so much greater, Hollywood has far greater resources for producing films. So it is a shame that it cannot produce far better films than this. Forget the gaping holes in a plot which seems to have been cobbled together by the cast-offs of the B team and the melodramatic direction and you have a visually sumptuous looking movie with high production values. So why waste all the talent which has gone into making this film on dumb garbage? Dean Stockwell hams it up opposite a wannabe Harrison Ford in a story the makes absolutely no sense with the now obligatory intelligent and humane black character to satisfy the PCs. I have better things to do with my time.
Quantum Leap
DrPhilmreview29 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Man, I really like Dean Stockwell and Tim Matheson. They're both terrific actors and always put in a good performance. So how did they get roped into doing this turkey? Well, it beats doing a bad farce at the Burt Reynolds dinner theater in Florida, I guess.
To be fair, the second half of the movie picks up considerably as Matheson does a good job playing the man on the run. But you have to get past the really unlikely beginning in which a genius computer hacker targets Matheson's character and seems to be able to manipulate his entire life. Not buying it at all.
So credit director Craig Baxley for doing what he can to make things exciting and interesting. Unfortunately, the script dooms "Twilight Man" from the start to its embarrassingly bad ending where Stockwell and Matheson have their final face off. You have to take a quantum leap in logic for it to be believable and make sense.
To be fair, the second half of the movie picks up considerably as Matheson does a good job playing the man on the run. But you have to get past the really unlikely beginning in which a genius computer hacker targets Matheson's character and seems to be able to manipulate his entire life. Not buying it at all.
So credit director Craig Baxley for doing what he can to make things exciting and interesting. Unfortunately, the script dooms "Twilight Man" from the start to its embarrassingly bad ending where Stockwell and Matheson have their final face off. You have to take a quantum leap in logic for it to be believable and make sense.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
