So most B-movies take their plots and cues from larger-budgeted Hollywood fare.   This isn’t always a bad thing, and for director Richard Shepard, it’s proven to be a winning tactic.  Just as his previous underrated kidnapping epic Mercy (also with Maura Tierney) was released in time to cash in on Ransom, Oxygen is equal parts The Silence of the Lambs, The Vanishing and Jennifer 8, and still there’s enough technique on display here to give it a voice of its own.
Tierney does a great job as a Clarice Starling-like police detective tracking down a kidnapper (Brody) whose victim is buried alive.  She catches up with him fairly early into the movie in a chase sequence worthy of a William Friedkin film, and despite her efforts to turn him over to the FBI interrogator (Baker), he demands to see her, causing a psychological cast-and-mouse game for the remainder of the running time.  Also in the cast are Tierney’s crutch-bound cop husband (Kinney) and a fellow cop friend (Caulderon).
    The main thing that makes Oxygen work is Shepard’s obvious care for his characters.  He’s willing to make even his heroine a flawed person, making what would have been a rather unexceptional role into a cheating alcoholic.  The talented cast helps quite a bit as well, as do several clever plot twists and a knack for camera movement to create tension.  Even minor characters have a hint of personality, like a sarcastic dentist that gets snide when the cops start asking stupid questions.
    Granted, so the film does have it’s share of flaws.  While some plot twists are clever, others have holes you could drive a Jess Franco film festival through—Brody’s escape from the police station, for example.  Characters show off their guns a bit too obviously that you begin to wonder why nobody’s noticing all this steel being flashed around, and there are a few glaring continuity glitches.
    The movie is a real feather in the cap of Tierney, and fans of her from “NewsRadio” will be glad to see that she’s perfectly capable of carrying a film.  She turns in a multi-dimensional performance, and even comes across as a convincing action heroine.  After seeing her in minor roles in major films (Primary Colors, Instinct, the godawful Forces of Nature), it’s good to see her finally get a chance to shine, albeit in a minor film which managed a token theatrical release on 2 screens before being dumped to video.
    Oxygen isn’t a brilliant film by any means, but thanks to active direction, a good cast and some unique (if unbelievable) plot twists, it’s an engaging enough thriller to spend an evening with.  In fact, judging from some of the other duds reviewed this month, it may be the best B-movie on the new release wall right now.