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Too much of everything

Better Late Then Never

A different way of telling a story

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This film was so awesome on so many levels, I don't know where to begin. Luckily, the film is being re-released in select art house theaters this weekend, and I will make sure to watch the film at the Uptown Film Festival. The DVD is a good watch, but nothing beats watching movies like this on the big screen. After a flashback scene which sets up the character development between Jana Kramer's lead role and Sam Logan Khaleghi's lead part, The movie opens up in the best way with an action scene that is like "Saving Private Ryan" in the middle nowhere middle/far east. Upon these two scenes there is considerably to the strategic writing of this script than meets the eye. There is the perfect truthful chat between soldier to soldier. This is an intricately engineered "art movie" with "commercial" appeal and scenes like when Brandon T. Jackson and Sam Logan Khaleghi have a dialogue moment between fight sequences is a sublime way of allowing the audience to care about the characters. Although the true fight is Kent's as he is a solitary character who must find out the truth behind the death of his girlfriend due to a car accident.The antagonist in the movie is depicted with such threat who is Mayor Steven Malverne, that the hero of the story Staff Sergeant Kent comes full tilt in a ferocious and earth shattering perfect character driven performance. The film's action sequences get inside of you and shakes your nerves like in such anticipation that you can't wait for the next scenes to come.

No matter what the friends of the producer/director/writer/star claim, this movie is NOT brilliant,impressive, superior,wonderful, almost perfect, awesome, or superb. It is not even good. Currently it is rated 3.4 and I predict that number will go down. This is a lame exercise in ego by someone who doesn't have a clue about making a movie. Whenever you have one of these low budget "indies" and one person dominates all the credits, you have your first indication that this is all about ego. After sitting through this movie your initial fears are confirmed. Now this would not be a problem if that person was indeed "brilliant" or "awesome." In this case he is not. The script is weak, the direction is confusing, the editing is horrible, and the acting sub par. All in all an exercise in ego by someone who should not have one.

This film handles the returning war veteran subject brilliantly and distributes ample time from character development to action and back to the present from the flashbacks. I saw this film with military veterans who were members of the American Legion and sponsored this movie and we were all amazed at service it did. The Oakland Press called this film "a gripping edge of your seat thriller" and that is exactly what it was plus enthralling affection toward the subject matter. I thank the filmmakers for that. Finally there is a movie out there that deals with the reality of combat. That said, I am huge fan of movies like "Walking Tall" and "Desparado" and think the film was an interesting mix of both. The film doesn't withhold any emotions back. The funeral scene was by far the most visually arresting and riveting part of the whole picture. I thought the musical score by James Stonehouse took me right back to those experiences. The best performances in the funeral scene by far are from Michelle Lynne Balser and Bill Cobbs who plays Brandon T Jackson's father (the actor from Tropic Thunder and Fast and Furious series). On NBC News today they showed the filmmakers handing over a check with a portion of the proceeds from the theatrical box office to the American Legion, and it was such an amazingly kind act from the filmmakers and crew members of this movie as it has been brought to my attention are actual veterans, so their point of view was a brilliant epic in the consultation of this film. American Legion's official face book shown a standing ovation by 10,000 veterans as the American Legion National Convention in Houston this year who were treated to a charitable screening of this film as it was sponsored by the national American Legion out of D.C.

The film strikes a nice balance between action, suspense and drama. The amount of personal loss and tragedy endured by the main character created a lot of sympathy, but wasn't overly depressing to the point of distraction. The story focuses more on a specific mystery that needs to be solved vs. making a larger obvious statement about the nature of war, (although I suspect many veterans can identify with the film's protagonist) and it certainly pays respect to our men and women in uniform. Approaching Midnight should not be written off as a purely action driven "guy'" movie, but an intelligent drama that manages to infuse some romantic tension as well. Definitely enjoyed it. A unique spin on the genre.