This video was produced by the FBI as a fearmongering propaganda piece. I do agree with the message, but audiences should be aware that the film was made with a clear and strongly biased agenda. Side note: why is the FBI making counterintelligence movies when international concerns are the CIA's job?
The audio editing and choreography were surprisingly good for a low budget short, but those are the only positive aspects of the film.
The acting is as expected from a low budget film that doesn't have any A, B, or even C list actors. It's never egregiously bad, but it's also never good (only the lead character is decently relatable at times).
The plot and screenwriting are a total mess. On one hand, the use of flashbacks to tell the story makes this movie more interesting than most corporate proganda, but the flashbacks are used far too often and are sometimes poorly edited. None of the characters are given any motivation for their actions. The film is almost over before the audience realizes whether or not Landry even knows he did something wrong, and the audience doesn't know either because the movie is entirely too vague at explaining what it is he actually did. The wife's motivations are revealed much too late in the film, and every scene prior makes it look like she's just played by a really bad actress. The former coworker seems irrationally angry, and the audience doesn't even know why until during the ending credits. As a staple of corporate propaganda, the bad guy Landry is written way over the top, a complete sleazeball all the way from big things like his checking out women despite being married, down to the little things like his never saying "thank you."
Worst of all, the audience is never shown any sort of reason as to why Landry did what he did. It's easy to say "no" when the situation is presented as black-and-white. But if he risked everything that he did for a measly $15k (in the movie, $25k in real life), then he most likely had some sort of financial problems at home that lead him to need a small sum of cash quickly. The film misses the entire point it is trying to make by preaching "just say 'no'," a message that programs like DARE have proven never work. The message would be better received if the movie had focused instead on warning the viewer "you need to say 'no' even when the offer is really tempting."
