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Parenthood brings all kinds of new challenges and concerns—new worries that never really go away, no matter how old those children may be. That’s certainly the case for the mother in Viper Club, who’s forced to wait for information about a grown son who’s been taken hostage.
Viper Club stars Susan Sarandon as Helen Sterling, an ER nurse who struggles to hold it together while her journalist son, Andy, is held prisoner overseas. The FBI and the State Department tell her to keep quiet and play by the rules—but, after months of waiting, her hope is failing. So when she discovers that her son is a part of a close-knit group of freelance journalists who share information—and that the group has wealthy and influential contacts who might be able to help—she decides to stop following the government’s advice and take matters into her own hands.
Viper Club is a parent’s nightmare: a child is missing and in danger, and no one seems able—or even willing—to help. As Helen goes about her life as usual—as advised by government contacts who make it clear that they have little concern for a civilian who chose to put himself in harm’s way—she experiences a roller coaster of emotions.
Unfortunately, though, the anger and tension and fears don’t really come through here. While Sarandon gives a solid—and sometimes moving—performance as the mother who’s left to worry in silence, she doesn’t get much to work with. The story begins months after Andy was taken, which means that viewers see him in a series of hazy flashbacks—none of which really give the audience a strong connection to the character. What we know about the character, we hear second-hand from those who know him. We don’t get to see his personality or his relationship with his mother. We don’t get to experience those first terrible moments when Helen finds out that her son has been taken. Instead, we sit through the hopeless meetings with smug government agents and follow Helen as she suffers alone. It’s a maddening—and mind-numbing—series of events, all wrapped up in red tape. And while it’s entirely understandable for the situation, it doesn’t make for a strong, emotional experience.
Viper Club seems to promise a tense and heartbreaking story about a mother fighting to save her son. But there’s just so much that even a talented actress like Susan Sarandon can do with the screenplay working against her.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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