The Trigger Effect

Name: The Trigger Effect
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: August 30, 1996
Duration: 94 min
Rating: 66
Cast: Bill Smitrovich, Dermot Mulroney, Edhem Barker, Elisabeth Shue, Kyle MacLachlan

1996

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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6.2

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6.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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The Trigger Effect

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Movie Details & Credits

Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: August 30, 1996 | R

Starring: Bill Smitrovich, Dermot Mulroney, Edhem Barker, Elisabeth Shue, Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Rooker, Richard T. Jones, Rick Worthy, Tori Kristiansen, Tyra Kristiansen

Summary: A blackout leaves those affected to consider what is necessary, what is legal, and what is questionable, in order to survive in a predatory environment.

Director: David Koepp

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: R

Runtime: 94 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

A tightly scripted cautionary tale about what happens when the lights go down in Southern California, hiding behind a generic action-thriller title. Read full review

Jay Carr

The Trigger Effect is a smarter-than- average thriller that proves David Koepp can direct films as well as write them. [30 Aug 1996, p.F1]

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Until he wraps things up much too neatly and idealistically, Koepp puts together a sturdy and efficient thriller. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

Despite conflicted circumstances, the cast is capable, but there's a feeling of loose ends, an overall lack of cohesiveness to this good-looking film. The Trigger Effect is on-target when it comes to the ills of modern society but is charged with ambivalence as to what makes a hero. Read full review

James Berardinelli

To the extent that The Trigger Effect is intended as a tense, somewhat nerve-wracking thriller, it's adequate, and certainly better than the formula-driven likes of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Read full review

Ray Mark Rinaldi

A film whose beauty lies in the fact that it's never pretty. [30 Aug 1996, p.3E]

Liam Lacey

Writer-director David Koepp shows a talent for presenting neat sequences, but they fail to come together in a satisfying whole. [30 Aug 1996, p.C9]

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User Reviews

HotelCentral

Jul 28, 2018

It comes as no surprise to me that, as of this writing, no other user has gone to the trouble of writing a review of "The Trigger Effect". It's from 1996, three years prior to the launch of Metacritic, and frankly I doubt if many users are even aware of the film having existed.

I onlyIt comes as no surprise to me that, as of this writing, no other user has gone to the trouble of writing a review of "The Trigger Effect". It's from 1996, three years prior to the launch of Metacritic, and frankly I doubt if many users are even aware of the film having existed.

I only barely managed to watch this film through to the end. I spent most of the runtime grinding my teeth with irritation, but spent the final minutes laughing out loud at the monumental absurdities unfolding on my screen.

This is one of those films where most of the decisions made by the characters only make matters worse. Yes, let's escape the unnamed city and seek shelter with the relatives who live in the country, because who else would even think of doing that, so gasoline should be plentiful along the way.

The characters, in fact, seem designed to be their own worst enemies. There's hardly any need for a disaster. They could come to blows on a sunny day by the shore. They have little emotional self-discipline and do not appear to spend much time pondering the possible consequences of their actions. The wife's best friend is a dude and he and the husband are constantly at odds. When the crisis worsens they go out to buy a gun. Of course they leave the gun on the ground floor of the house so when someone breaks in during the night, and everyone is upstairs in bed, the gun is nowhere to be found, and of course it later turns out that the wife threw the gun into the pool when the boys weren't watching because she doesn't like guns, and apparently neither she nor anyone else has ever heard about riots and other lawlessness breaking out in the wake of mass blackouts.

There's something in practically every scene that can picked apart. Suffice it to say that the three principal characters in this film are not the people you want for companions should a national emergency erupt. They will get you killed, or they might kill you themselves by the end of some dramatic confrontation over baby formula, whose turn it is to siphon the gas, or who drank all the wine.

The acting is well done. The visuals are purely mundane. Watch for West Wing's Richard Schiff shining in a bit part that is a small delight in an otherwise barely tolerable production. You could give this film a try if you have nothing else on tap, but I strongly suggest having something, anything, for a backup.… Expand

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45	#45 Best Movie of 1996
94	#94 Most Discussed Movie of 1996