2 A.M.

I caught this movie at SXSW in Austin, Texas and really enjoyed it. The basic plot is that the movie follows a group of friends at a bar as the bar is closing. What really makes this movie are two things and first is the dialogue. The friends all speak to each other as friends do, poking fun, getting angry and forgiven in seconds, complaining, etc. What is said rings true, the dialogue is not stilted or artificial it feels as if we're really listening in on a group of guys talking. The other thing that makes this movie is the way in which we get to know these characters. As one person leaves we follow him out of the bar, find out more of his story, and then time rewinds and we're taken back to the bar to follow another. This really helped to provide an enjoyable way of getting to know our cast of characters while moving the story along. When this movie comes to a film festival or theater near you go out and see it.

This story - or three of them I should say - which tracks what happens when three guys follow along on their respective girls in sight (one-night stands, a simple question for coffee, an ex girlfriend going to an after-2-AM party) - is the stuff of absurdity and outrageous spectacle in some degree. It could also be called 'The Greatest Drunk Stories Ever Told: The Motion Picture'. That said, what surprised me most was not the comedy portions - that I figured Coleman would perform and direct reasonably well - but the dramatic mid-section where the one halfway decent guy (possibly) gets the girl was performed with conviction and sensitivity.

For a first film, yeah its no Citizen Kane, and not all the attempts at humor are successful. For what it tries to do, as a simple look at these five guys over the course of one night in quasi-GO (or even Reservoir Dogs) style all tracing back around and then looping to a point at the end, it's very good, ambitious even, especially for it being on probably no budget, and Korey himself is a good actor too. I almost wonder if he had done more in that field after this film if things would've been very different with Spill.com.