"Abducted on Air" (a.k.a., "The Lead") is a hard-hitting film about the rise and fall of Miss Sasha Bruder. A cub reporter on the Cable 4 news channel in Cleveland, Sasha lives in the shadow of the lead investigative reporter, Diane Baldwin. Colluding with a journalism professor, Sasha fakes her own abduction on camera, hoping that it will boost her career and lead to a meteoric rise in her standing with the public.
The sleazy professor is Aidan Ferguson, who is married to the daughter of the college president and who has bailed out her philandering husband in the past when he had an affair with Lily Reisman. Now, he has taken up with Sasha, and their plan spirals out of control. Sasha compounds the issues by trying to frame her kind colleague Alex, who adores her. She also eliminates her rival Diane...or, so she believes!
One of the most interesting characters is the professor's wife Jocelyn (Joce), who recognizes that her husband has become enmeshed in a situation he cannot handle. Joce goes on the offensive to challenge him to return to the moral compass he possessed at the time she married him.
Aidan's role model was the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ernie Pile. He is aware that iin his own shabby life and career, he has failed to live up to those high standards. It is Joce who brings Aidan back to reality. The actress gave a very moving and understated performance in the role of Joce.
There was one loose end in the screenplay with no explanation of what happened to Diane Baldwin. After Diane's home was trashed and she disappeared, it really appeared as though Sasha had killed her. It was never explained how Diane survived the break-in or what was the degree of involvement of Sasha.
Apart from the one detail, the film was well-crafted with a star turn by the actress playing Sasha. There was never a dull moment in the reporter's antics as she sought her meteoric rise to a career at CNN. At one point, she stares at the camera and tells her public to "be vigilant!"
Sasha should have taken her own advice and also listened to her mentor Diane, who spent years in learning her craft and paying her dues. Sasha wants instant fame and a meteoric ascent that only led her to give a pathetic televised interview from the penitentiary.
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