Midnight in the Switchgrass

There was a TV series "Columbo" in the 1970s starring Peter Falk. The novelty was the viewer learned of the murder as the show began and the entire episode was to see how Columbo would go about picking up clues and solving the crime.

This movie isn't quite that clean cut but we do get very strong suspicions very early, soon confirmed, and we watch to see how the agent will unravel clues and solve the crime. The setting is the panhandle of Florida, communities along I-10, and a series of murders of young girls and women are discovered.

There are many very unfair reviews rating this movie as "1" and "don't waste your time" comments. But looking at the actual distribution of ratings "5" is the most common and probably where I would rate it. There is nothing outstanding here but it is mostly well made movie that is about as enjoyable as an extended TV episode of a crime story.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. It was not filmed in Florida, most was filmed in Puerto Rico. It was strange in the end credits seeing they had a "COVID-19 medical team."

Featuring Bruce Willis on the cover and given top billing, we come to realize that isn't the case. As he is in a smaller supporting role. Emile Hirsch is essentially the lead here, along with Megan Fox.

This film is quite lazy, with bad writing, average acting and quite slow at times. It does get better in the second half but also the conclusion feels a little rushed.

Watching this film reminded that of the tv series True Detective, but nowhere near the level.

I just sat through the 2021 crime thriller "Midnight in the Switchgrass", and I must say that while the movie definitely was watchable, it was ultimately just a very generic crime thriller.

Sadly so, yeah, the storyline and script in "Midnight in the Switchgrass", as written by Alan Horsnail, just didn't offer anything new to the crime thriller genre, and it was actually a rather predictable and generic formula that was used to construct the movie. So you knew the outcome early on in the movie actually.

This movie does have some good names on the cast list, but the movie was carried primarily by actors Emile Hirsch and Lukas Haas. The movie also had Bruce Willis and Megan Fox on the cast list, and I must admit that I was initially lured into watching "Midnight in the Switchgrass" because it had Bruce Willis on the cast list. But it turned out that he didn't really have all that big of a role to play in the movie. Now, a lot can be said about Megan Fox, but I think she actually managed to do a good job in this movie.

"Midnight in the Switchgrass" is a rather slow paced crime thriller, which makes certain aspects of the storyline feel prolonged and slow.

I sat through the entire movie, and yeah, it ended exactly as I predicted it would early on in the movie. So nothing overly surprising to be experienced here from director Randall Emmett.

My rating of "Midnight in the Switchgrass" lands on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

The movie tries to portray seriousness and deep emotion, remains unsuccessful. While the buildup at some places is okay, it never picks up traction. Falls flat in the end, where the climax is barely anything, non-existent rather. Could be a lesson in how not to make a movie.

The poster is just wrong. Mr. Willis is only present in a few scenes that are insignificant. Instead Emile Hirsch would have been a better choice. But this also points to the fact that the viewer is being misled right from the start. Then comes a sub standard dialogue routine, average at best acting, sloppy editing and a bad ending.

Miss Fox should loosen up a little, her acting is very wooden. Emile Hirsch plays a character that is always stressed out but has very little power, another example of bad script writing. Given the physical presence of Mr Hirsch, he should have been given a more powerful character that would offset this trait to some extent.

Conclusion: Don't bother with this one, not recommended even for one time watch.

Not a good movie. Not even a good TV movie. I am not even sure why I voted it 3 maybe I feel generous today.