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| Flock | 
 enlarge | Directors: Wai-keung Lau, Niels Mueller
Actors: Richard Gere, Claire Danes, Kadee Strickland, Ray Wise, Russell Sams
Studio: Genius Products
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $0.24
You Save: $24.71 (99%)
New (42) Used (39) from $0.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 8210
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 96
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 80386
UPC: 796019803861
EAN: 0796019803861
ASIN: B0013D8LCC
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: DVD in excellent condition. Ships first class. Blockbuster exclusive.
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Amazon.com
Richard Gere stars in The Flock as Errol Babbage, a government employee in charge of tracking registered sex offenders who has become convinced he can tell when they're about to offend again. When a young girl is kidnapped, he loses his bearings and sinks into a violent obsession, dragging his new partner (Claire Danes) into a dogged investigation that includes abusive interrogations, flagrant violations of civil rights, and a whole lot of sexual tension between the two of them. The Flock is the sort of overheated thriller that wants to condemn sexual deviance while depicting it in absurdly lurid and titillating ways (the scenes in a porn studio/fetish market are slathered with moral indignation but ooze with repressed lust). The movie wants to be a portrait of a passionate man who risks becoming what he most abhors, but it's implausible at every turn. The Flock lurches from one sleazy sequence to another, intoxicated by its own hypocrisy, cheering on Babbage's vigilantism while pretending to compare it with the dangerous acting-out of the deviants. In the end, Babbage is redeemed and affirmed. Also featuring Ray Wise (Twin Peaks), KaDee Strickland (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid), French Stewart (3rd Rock from the Sun), and an extremely brief appearance by pop star Avril Lavigne. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
Erroll Babbage (Richard Gere) has spent his career tracking sex offenders and his unorthodox methods are nearly as brutal as the criminals he monitors. When he links one of his deranged parolees to the disappearance of a local girl he and his new partner (Claire Danes) must scour the S&M underground to find her before it's too late.System Requirements:Running Time: 96 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 796019803861 Manufacturer No: 80386
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Heavy Gere - 3.5 Stars August 26, 2008
This is one of Richard Gere's strongest performances - thanks to taut direction from Andrew Lau. Gere melds himself convincingly into the role of a man haunted by his past, the onerous aspects of his job, and the sexual offenders that he polices - aka his "flock". His character Errol Babbage finds himself in a very dark place - far darker than where Gere has gone before, as I recall him in roles like Internal Affairs. This film reminds me of "Seven" with Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, but is more disturbing in many ways. Intense viewing and probably not for the faint of heart or those who expecting a comfortable feel good film or Richard Gere as eye candy...Claire Dane delivers a consistent performance as the protege stepping into uncomfortable shoes. They could've dialed it up even higher and avoided a Hollywood ending, but it's pretty gritty as it is. I give Gere's performance 4.5 stars.
 intense relevant who done it for sophisticated viewers August 22, 2008
well researched sex-tinged mystery utilizing risk assessment tools crafted by law enforcement and forensic psychological professionals. likely to keep you glued and guessing till the final scene.
Creepy Flick July 20, 2008
I watched this last night on DVD. It was well-acted and suspenseful. It actually caused me to have a nightmare around 3AM so someone did something right.
his best ever film bar none June 23, 2008
why was this film not in the cinema ?
a must see film for adults on the edge of your seat film pity it was not longer and if tom hanks took the lead role it would have been OSCAR material no doubt because it was him . I very highly recomend this film to everyone .
 What the Flock? June 17, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Although THE FLOCK has some pretty good acting by veteran Richard Gere, and some okay shots that might harken some back to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS days, the movie stretches credibility to the breaking point and destroys itself against a plot that really leads nowhere.
The film is about Erroll Babbage (Gere) who works for the department of safety and is preparing to retire. His office thrusts upon him his replacement, Allison Lowry (Claire Danes, Stardust), who quickly discovers that Babbage is obsessed with his job. And that job ain't very fun. He monitors hundreds of sexual offenders who are on parole in his jurisdiction. Allison goes with Erroll on many calls to check up on his "flock" of offenders and learns that he is in desperate need of retirement. But Erroll is good at his job even if his methods aren't. He taunts sexual predators and even has physical conflicts with them. Erroll justifies his actions by bringing up these deviants' pasts. It is this "good justification" that challenges the audience on some level, letting us see how brutal Erroll is and yet how out-of-touch he's become (by being too close to his job).
When a teenage girl goes missing in Erroll's "area", he immediate leaps to the conclusion that she was abducted by one of his flock. But how could he know? Is Erroll that good at his job? Allison challenges him and Erroll pushes back. Their battles become as fierce as Erroll's need to find this missing girl.
Although the set-up for the story was okay, it didn't have any umpf! I will give credit to Richard Gere, however, who plays the Erroll character very well. Battling retirement. Worried about everyone who's near his flock. Disgusted with those he's responsible for overseeing. Disgusted with himself for having to do some of things he does. Quite a change in character portrayal for Gere. But beyond him there's not much else. Some of the sets are okay (dark and dangerous) but there are so many other problems as to be laughable.
I'll be the first to admit that suspending disbelief is a requirement whenever watching films. But that suspension has limits. The biggest push against those limits is the destruction of EXTREMELY vital crime scenes. Someone as meticulous as Erroll would KNOW that moving a body would be a huge no-no. Or trampling through a crime scene. Or moving evidence. It went beyond and hurt the film to no end.
The other damaging part of this film is that we never get into Clair Danes' character, Allison. She's almost dropped by the wayside at the end of the film and we're never privy to what her intension might be: Will she stay or leave? Will she end up like Erroll if she does stay?
This isn't a horrible film as it does touch on some uncomfortable moral ground, but the story as a whole needed to be tightened up.
P.S. The fact that this movie went straight to DVD and didn't get air time at cinemas in the U.S. is pretty telling. As is the fact that only three other reviews are up here at Amazon.com at the time of my posting.
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