‘First Daughter’ Is a Second-Rate Thriller

“First Daughter” has a big vision and, unfortunately, a big obstacle. Inthree words: suspension of disbelief.

Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes’ script and Tim Ferrier’s production design strain credibility from the get-go of this TBS action movie, as plucky Secret Service agent Alex McGregor (Mariel Hemingway) saves U.S. President Jonathan Hayes (Gregory Harrison of “Trapper John M.D.”) from heavily armed super-patriotic commandos who storm a ritzy Beverly Hills soiree and blow up the presidential limousine.

Almost before the smoke clears, the first dad, in a sketchily suggested executive mansion, is sending his teenager (Monica Keena of “Dawson’s Creek”) to Wyoming to go river-rafting while guarded by only three agents. Excuse me, Mr. President, but isn’t Wyoming pretty close to Montana, where unsavory super-patriotic militia types sometimes lurk?

There, unsurprisingly, the rafters are promptly spotted by more commandos, who carry away the title character--and the chase is on.

All told, the picture has the bones of a tense tracking-bad-guys-through-the-woods affair, but the political terrorism framework rings somewhat hollow. Fetching scenery in the Australia locale is captured by director of photography Mark Wareham as the setting for intriguing counterplay between Hemingway’s mother hen vs. the river rat of a guide played by Doug Savant (“Melrose Place”). And while a commando played by bulked-up, tattooed and bleach-haired pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page seems more suitable for paint-ball night on WCW, Keena’s trapped-fawn performance as First Victim is endearing--even after she spends many scenes casting venomous glares as First Brat.

But things just don’t jibe with how they’d play out on CNN, right down to the big rescue sequence where a single helicopter and a handful of officers show up when more likely it would be the 101st Airborne Division.

Toughest to answer, though, is how Harrison’s Jonathan Hayes became president. It must have been one of those fluky constitutional things that gave us Gerald Ford.

* “First Daughter” can be seen Sunday at 7 p.m. on TBS. The network has rated it TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14).