Dead by Midnight

" Something is missing " whines John Larkin . I quite agree , an original script is missing , not to mention a big name star , a director who has made more than just TVMs , and a big budget . For the first ten minute of the film - oooopps sorry I mean TVM . There is a difference - the plot involves an everyman type suffering from strange dreams , finds his wife and lifestyle are not what they seem and discovers himself to be a hunted man . At any second I was expecting the line " If I`m not me then who the hell am I ? " to come out . Guess what film I`m referring to ?

Sorry but Timothy Hutton isn`t big Arnie or Jean Claude Van Damme , but he`s not Steven Segal either so I guess DEAD BY MIDNIGHT could be worse and it does contain a mind blowing scene where the bad guy turns up at an orphanage and gives the long suffering TV viewer a good laugh with some of the worst acting I have ever seen

This movie is a showcase of poor directing, writing and acting.

In several sequences in the movie the director seems to forget whether it was day or night when he started shooting the scene. In addition the main character John Larkin (Timothy Hutton) wears a white tank top, which he somehow manages to keep spotless during the entire movie.

The plot seems like a pitiable version of RoboCop, with a bit of sex put in it. The sex makes this film even worse as it seems it has been in for no particular reason non other that the pleasure of the viewer. There are simply too many unexplained things in this film and combined with very poor acting this movie probably wins the first prize for tackiness and clichés.

Imagine the situation: you've just woken up in a strange place that you don't recognise, and after escaping, you return to the house that you, your wife and your daughter have lived in for the past few years, only to find that there's another family living there and, get this, nobody knows who you are; as far as they're concerned, you never existed! Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. You then meet your wife and, get this, she doesn't know who you are either! Oh my god! I know what you're thinking by this point; "oh my god, maybe I died in a car crash, had cybernetic implants that have made me half man and half machine so that I could overthrow some government on the orders of a secret corporation, just before I had actors act as my family and friends to create false memories which have now being implanted into my brain; thus causing me to be confused between what's real and what's false". And guess what; in this situation, you would be right. Well, Timothy Hutton actually is in this situation, and after finding out all that I've said so far, he says 'oh…ok'. Realism is this film's key aspect.

Now, I know you probably doubt that this film could possibly get any cooler, but you don't know the half of it, as this movie features the man that is probably the hardest looking man in history, movies or otherwise; John Glover. You wouldn't want to meet him on a dark night, and neither would I, as this guy is nasty with a capital 'N'. He approaches his role as the action hero-esquire secret government agent thingy with gusto and really makes you believe that he has the hard man ability to run a corporation with an iron fist. This guy makes Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a fairy, he really does. In fact, if he were any harder; he actually would be made out of stone. Well, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that he is. As mentioned, his adversary is the half man, half robot; Timothy Hutton. Hutton makes a great impromptu action hero...ahem, not. His only role in this film is making John Glover look even harder, if that's even possible and I don't know if it is. Actually, I think this movie would be better without Hutton in it at all. Think about it; we could just follow the escapades of John Glover's character. If John Glover, or anyone else with stature in the movie industry would like to get in touch with me about the possibility of a trilogy of spin-off's (probably called 'The Chronicles of John Glover'), just drop me a line as I have some great ideas.

Anyway, I don't know what happened in the end because I fell asleep with about fifteen minutes to go, but I like to think that it ended with a bunch of Hutton's mates coming into the final scene with a keg of beer, saying "April Fools", and then Hutton and his friends laugh the whole incident off while saying things like "I cant believe you thought that you were a half man, half robot assassin prototype; you didn't even doubt the story for a second!" etc. That would be great...wouldn't it?

hahahaholycowthat'shystericalheheheehcan'tstoplaughingsomeonehelpmehehehehe! = My reaction to this entire TV movie. This is a hysterical laugh-out-loud yuckfest.

The fact that it's a drama makes it even funnier. I make a point not to review made-for-television movies since they're obviously low-budget time fillers that don't aspire to be anything more. But this one is the King. Truly an exceptional work. The acting is a step below atrocious, like watching a high school play, only slightly worse. Then there are the golden nuggets of dialogue destined to cause a couple of laughter-induced hernias:

"Are you telling me you've lost control of my precious creation?" "I have the right to know who I am!" "Those were my eyes he pleaded with!"

The plot is so ridiculous it's fabulous...I've seen more complex commercials. The most intriguing question here is WHY did Academy Award-winning actor Timothy Hutton resort to this trash, and why has his acting deteriorated to the point of idiocy?

It's too bad Mystery Science Theater is now defunct. They could have had a field day with this.

John Larkin is snatched from his home leaving his wife and children behind. He escapes his captors and tracks down his wife only to discover that she is a doctor playing the role of his wife, all his memories are false and implanted into his programming and that he's part robot being trained to infiltrate a government overthrow it and then lead the country the way his programmers desire. He also discovers that if he goes missing for more than 48 hours a programme will automatically shut him down and wipe his memory clean forever.

The overall plot for this has been done many times - part human part machine, realises what's going on and goes on the run - but it's been done better. Here it's all to predictable, too lazy and too boring. The story roles slowly along without going anywhere you don't expect and lacks any action, excitement or drama. It really is that poor - even though it less than 90 minutes it's difficult to get through it without getting bored. The story lacks any imagination and has nothing to make you think - even as the full extent of the conspiracy is uncovered it's still not exciting or even interesting.

The TV direction doesn't help but neither do the actors. Hutton overplays the coldness he imagines a robot would have and overdoes the jerky head movements at times - he doesn't convince as someone who would fit in, he looks like a robot throughout. Suzy Amis is OK as his wife but always seems like a deer with her big eyes and gentle smile. John Glover is too eccentric as Dr Drake and would be better suited as the villain if this was a spoofy comedy film, but he doesn't fit in here. Grant Heslov plays the helpful cop but really needs to sort out his eyes - does he really need to look that tired?

The film squanders good ideas and lacks any of the drama and tension that a film involving a guy being pursued by a Government conspiracy would usually have (enemy of the state?). It is consistently lazy in it's storytelling with thing like the cop turning up at the right place at the right time and explaining it by "I worked it all out". As if anyone would put together very basic clues to conclude that someone was breeding an android from an innocent man to become a killing machine! Also the ending relating to the memory loss is just so lazy that it's insulting to those of us wondering how the problem was going to be solved.

Overall a lame drama with no obvious redeeming features.