"CTU: PROVO" — 2½ stars — Donny Osmond, Alan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, Jimmy Chunga, Rick Macy, Jenna Lisonbee; not rated, likely PG; LDS Film Festival 2017
"CTU: Provo" is a little outdated and in some instances pretty campy, but the 10-year-old film made in 2007 by Alan Seawright and Jonathan Decker is still a hoot.
When Provo is threatened by eco-terrorists with bombs, Seawright and Decker, who go by Alan and Jono and are fans of the television series "24," must save the city against all odds because the local Counter-Terrorist Unit doesn't seem all that capable.
The two friends run, hop, leap over tall buildings and survive all kinds of dangerous situations.
Meanwhile, Donny Osmond, who plays the mastermind and greedy CEO of Tromplin Oil, achieves the impossible. He keeps a straight face while delivering ultimatums and kill orders.
Jimmy Chunga is in the thick of things as Senator Douglass, scheduled to be assassinated. Rick Macy is the ultimate slimy governor who is betraying everyone.
Meanwhile, Seawright and Decker try to collect and defuse a string of cardboard-box bombs lying in the snow in Rock Canyon. They drive fast through the dust and the dirt. (Shiny cars made the scene.) The heroes look cool when it's called for. They jump fences. They get hit by cars. They keep going.
At one point, they fight rough and tough with a woman who knows all the karate moves that would normally inflict great pain and disable an opponent. They dodge bullets. (Everybody in this movie can shoot.)
For a comedy with one part drama and two parts silly stirred in, there are a lot of people dead from gunshots, yet no one really seems to suffer.
Many, a female agent played by Jenna Lisonbee, chews gum like a pro while she rolls her eyes at the incompetency of the local CTU crew.
The woman at the switchboard is really the only one taking it all very seriously.
All through this movie, there's a sense of fun while dealing with harmful intent.
It's goofy entertainment that deserves recycling.
"CTU: Provo" is not rated, but likely PG; running time: 97 minutes.