merklekranz "Point of Origin" may or may not take liberties with the facts. It is supposedly based on a true story, however it definitely takes liberties with the audience. What is shown to be real, is then flip flopped in the audiences mind to justify an ending that was not quite satisfying. Ray Liotta gives a good performance as do the supporting cast, and as entertainment the film succeeds. It does leave some questions that nag at the viewer, which drags the total movie down a notch. The rapid fire effects are another negative as they become redundant after awhile. My conclusion is that this could have been a better movie if it played on a more level field with the audience, and the fire effects were toned down. Marginally recommended. - MERK

Erewhon This confused and confusing movie tries to be based both on the real case of the worst serial arsonist in California history, and on a book by John Orr, a former arson investigator for the city of Glendale. The script is clumsy and ill-formed, and plays a foolish trick on the audience regarding two of the characters, the arsonist and John Orr. Nothing is gained by this particular trick; in fact, a great deal of possible audience involvement is completely sacrificed. The real case is depicted with some accuracy, but also some pointless fiction is inserted, and a potentially fascinating story is badly undercut. The director is ordinarily a superlative cinematographer, and there's some good cinematography here, too. But there's also a great deal of silly camera trickery -- there's even a shot looking upward at two people (one a very minor character) from >under the foot< of one of them. The fire scenes are deeply unconvincing, and needn't have been. One odd touch: two of the real-life arson investigators are depicted in the film, and one of them plays the OTHER one. And the other one also appears. Very complex and almost funny.

Mark Heiliger At first glance it's just a movie of the week. It's true that it was one of HBO's original movies, but to call it a movie of the week would be to limit it to a group of movies with hackneyed plots, weak actors, and clueless directors. Point of Origin is so much more than those terrible excuses for entertainment.The story concerns an arson investigator (Ray Liotta) and his protege (John Leguizamo) who are investigating a particularly nasty string of arson fires. Those of you who remember the news of the incident this film is based on might see the story coming, but most people will not simply because it is too outlandish to be true. But it IS.What grabbed me most in this movie were the two lead performances by Leguizamo and Liotta as well as a directorial vision that is on the verge of brilliance. Every creative decision made in this movie had a very specific goal. Pay close attention to the palette of colors used. Much of the movie is made up completely of black, white, and orange. Special effects are used to great effect in putting the audience and the characters "inside" the fires they are investigating. As far as TV movies go, this one was truly refreshing.

MillandFan This film seemed to have rushed to make it's point (who was setting the fires), then dragged on painfully until the end. There was, however, some really good non-reality, or thought scenes that were interesting, until the "Crouching-Tiger, Hidden Dragon" moves were thrown in, and those were completely unnecessary.I love Ray Liotta. I collect his films, and I have to say that this is one that goes in the collection for the collection's sake. I'll probably not watch it again.