Given the high quality of work in both movies and series that HBO usually achieves, I found "Point Of Origin" to be a significant disappointment, with a plot that didn't seem to flow well and what I thought were some poor directorial decisions (particularly the strange way in which the fire sequences were filmed - the sudden jump into high speed action, with shots of traffic and flames.) All that made it difficult to really empathize with the most sympathetic victims of the fires (the child at the beginning of the movie, and the young woman confined in her bathroom while the flames spread.
Ray Liotta put on a decent performance as Glendale arson investigator James Orr, in this true story of the hunt for an arsonist in the Los Angeles area. Orr ends up becoming the prime suspect in the fires, much to the dismay of his former partner (played by Trent Gill), based largely on the discovery of a "fictional" novel he wrote based on the fires (of course, the question becomes whether the book is based on the fires, or whether the fires are based on the book.) Orr is an entirely unsympathetic character, having an affair while still protesting that he loves his wife, expecting both women to stand with him, ignoring his daughters (and coming across as very authoritarian when he's not ignoring them.)
There just wasn't very much in this movie that I found appealing, although it provided a glimpse into the methods used to investigate arson. Frankly, though, I wouldn't recommend it especially highly.
3/10.
Ray Liotta put on a decent performance as Glendale arson investigator James Orr, in this true story of the hunt for an arsonist in the Los Angeles area. Orr ends up becoming the prime suspect in the fires, much to the dismay of his former partner (played by Trent Gill), based largely on the discovery of a "fictional" novel he wrote based on the fires (of course, the question becomes whether the book is based on the fires, or whether the fires are based on the book.) Orr is an entirely unsympathetic character, having an affair while still protesting that he loves his wife, expecting both women to stand with him, ignoring his daughters (and coming across as very authoritarian when he's not ignoring them.)
There just wasn't very much in this movie that I found appealing, although it provided a glimpse into the methods used to investigate arson. Frankly, though, I wouldn't recommend it especially highly.
3/10.