Christmas Rush premieres on Sunday, December 1 at 8:00 p.m. (ET)/7:00 p.m. (PT) on TBS. The press kit that was mailed out to journalists who publish articles that are printed on paper contain interview questions with Eric Roberts, Dean Cain, Erika Eleniak, writer/director/executive producer Charles Robert Carner and co-executive producer Richard Rothstein. There are credits, short bios of the major players and two stories that newspapers can print. What the press kit does not contain is the usual 8 by 10 photos. Instead they have handed out one sheet of thumbnail photos with instructions to go to the TBS website to request larger photos. They said to leave a name, email address and phone number and they would email or call within 24 hours to ask questions to determine if I was the sort of person that they wanted to give photos to. Sorry gang, I didn’t measure up to their standards so all I have for you right now is these little thumbnail photos.

The movie is set at Christmas in a mall but it is a thriller more than a holiday movie and it’s not for kids. The Director and Co-executive producer both describe it as “Die Hard in a mall” and Dean Cain says “It’s not Miracle on 34th Street.” There is tons of action and the mall makes a really great set for this movie. In Christmas Rush, Dean Cain plays a police officer who has been unfairly suspended from the police force just before Christmas. Eric Roberts plays a thief who brings his gang of violent wackos to rob the mall at the height of the busy holiday shopping season. Dean Cain arrives at the mall as the gang takes mall shoppers and employees, including Cain’s wife, hostage.

After watching the movie, I will be brutally honest and tell you that there was just one part of the plot that I had a problem with. Why did Charles Robert Carner, who wrote the screenplay, decide to insert this incredibly hokey piece of business about Scalzetti’s son having leukemia? I would have no trouble believing that a thief and his gang of thugs went to the mall to rob it when they knew there would be a lot of money there. I had a big problem believing someone armed to the teeth with automatic weapons and bombs is “basically a good guy.” I bet those women and children hostages who were preparing to die would have been as unconvinced as I was. Why couldn’t Scalzetti just be a bad guy out to rob the mall? To Charles Robert Carner: KISS.

From the press kit, a conversation with Eric Roberts:

Q: What attracted you to this movie?
A: I like the script and I like the people involved.

Q: How would you describe this movie?
A: It’s a thriller with some dry, edgy humor.

Q: You’ve played a lot of villains in your career. What is it about them that you enjoy?
A: I enjoy playing what I call “bad” guys. They always have the nicest clothes, the nicest cars and the flashiest wife or girlfriend. And they always have the best dying scenes, so they’re fun to play. But this guy isn’t one of my “bad” guys. This guy is actually a decent man; he just steals for a living.

Q: So your character’s not really a “bad” guy?
A: He’s a great guy. He’s great at what he does. What he does is illegal, so everyone looks on him as a “bad” guy. But unless you rape, kill or kidnap, I don’t think you’re a black, evil thing. You are what we all are, which is basically gray. There are no real white hats and black hats. We’re all in gray hats. I think this story shows that. Dean’s a cop who’s not perfect, and I’m a thief who’s basically a good guy. So you have these two gray men who are trying to outwit each other.

Q: So what is it that motivates your character to pull off this heist?
A: He has a son who has leukemia, and he needs a quarter of a million dollars overnight. So he’s a thief out of love. Q: What’s been the most fun part of making this movie?
A: As kids, we’ve all wanted to hide in a mall after it closes and have it all to ourselves. That’s what we’re doing with this movie, because we shoot here after the mall has already closed for the night. So it’s kind of cool to have the mall all to ourselves.

Christmas Rush will be re-run on TBS several times during December on Saturday, December 7; Sunday, December 8; Tuesday, December 10; and Friday, December 13. Check your local listings for times.