At Risk (2010 film)

Plot

Win Garano, an Apache nicknamed "Geronimo", is working for Monique "Money" Lamont in the Boston DA's department. Lamont is running for Governor of Massachusetts using the concept of "at risk" to try to gain votes, saying that everyone is at risk from crime but when she becomes governor it is the criminals who will be at risk. To promote her political campaign she re-opens and assigns Garano to a cold case concerning the murder of a 90-year-old woman 35 years previously, demonstrating to voters that she can clear up old crimes as well as new ones.

Jesus Baptista, a criminal, has recently been acquitted of drug dealing and arson. One evening he goes to Lamont's house and lies in wait for her. At the same time, Garano is visiting his grandmother "Nana", where he sees TV coverage of a press conference called by Lamont, during which she agrees in answer to an aggressive questioner that the investigator on the cold case is called "Geronimo". Upset by this he sends a text to Lamont submitting his resignation but immediately afterwards he receives a text threatening Nana's life unless he drops the case. He changes his mind and calls Lamont to tell her that he wishes to continue the investigation. At this point Baptista snatches Lamont and drags her into the house causing her to drop her mobile. Unable to contact her, Garano drives to her house where a fight ensues, resulting in Baptista being shot dead by Garano. Evidence is discovered that Baptista had apparently been paid to kill Lamont. Facts about the cold case are difficult to find and police corruption is suspected. It then emerges that there is a connection between the murder and the attack on Lamont.

Cast

Reception

Reviews were mixed. David Hinckley, in the Daily News, wrote "This Lifetime adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's thriller "At Risk" is smarter and better than the average TV movie." while April MacIntyre in Monsters and Critics criticised inconsistencies in the plot; she said "In this day and age of empty coffers it is a stretch at best to think Massachusetts' tax payer funds would be earmarked to solve a Tennessee cold case murder. Another annoyance for me, as an ex resident of Essex county, is the confusion of county names. Boston is Suffolk county. Why that detail was cocked up is beyond me." and according to Laura Fries in Variety, the film "has a talented cast and polished tech credits, but they just don’t yield much of a movie".