11:14

It is 11:14pm, an accident happens. Different people cross paths on the road, and all of them play their part in the accident. The movie tells us the partial stories of each of the parts involved, how the actions of each of them lead to what happens at the beginning and end of the film. The movie is a presented as a puzzle in which all the pieces are assembled when the film ends. A second frozen in time and dissected for the benefit of the viewer.

This is a dark thrilling movie, full of action, with a great mood and tempo, very engaging and never dull. The movie has no pity with its own characters, all of them depicted as mean, nasty, stupid and/or untruthful, deserving of the drama that unfolds during the night. Just some of the secondary characters are neutral or good.

All actors are OK in their respective roles. Two of them especially shine: Hillary Swank, who really nails her role as red-neck shop attendant, and Rachael Leigh Cook is terrific as the nasty Lolita around which all the story, directly or indirectly, revolves.

The movie is entertaining with a round story that will keep you glued to your chair. Its only problem is the mediocrity of the dialogs, and that the characters have no dramatic depth, but, well, you cannot expect depth from a thriller.

I knew nothing at all about 11:14 when I saw it in the guide of what movie was on next. To be honest I was just going to keep 11:14 on in the background as I was supposed to be doing something more important. But I began to watch it.... and am I glad I did !! The credits haven't even finished rolling as I am writing this review because I thought it was that good.

The plot is supposed to be basic; an incident happens at 11:14pm and it is told from five different perspectives. But oh how it all progresses, ties together, and ends in a very satisfying manner. It reminded me of a cross between 'Memento' and 'Pulp Fiction' and to be honest, I found 11:14 comparable to those above mentioned excellent movies.

The actors themselves were so natural and played the roles so well that there was not one actor that was the 'star'. I can't say enough about this movie. It was clever, witty, funny when necessary, intelligent and excellently casted.

My only gripe was occasionally too many events 'seemed' to happen in the supposed allotted time which made me aware of the time frame more than I probably should. But so saying that it detracts very little and I enjoyed 11:14 immensely. See it, I am sure you will love it too.

It has often been said that all of our lives are interconnected. Nine people's lives are linked together at the same moment in time, all with life changing results.

This film actually has no plot, but rather details the actions of all of the nine people leading up to that fated moment and shortly after. Interestingly, it is all about the freak timing and some very stupid or cruel choices that people make. Sometimes those ill-thought out actions can have devastating results.

While this film does not fall under the heading of "enjoyable evening of entertainment" for me, it is a MUST see film for teenagers and their parents. It is not preachy, but very matter-of-fact blunt. Actions do have reactions, as well as consequences. There is also a difference between "harmless fun" and "stupidly dangerous".

I saw this movie at the Florida State University's Seven Days of Opening Nights festival in Tallahassee, Florida. The director, Greg Marcks, is a Florida State film school graduate. I was fortunate to attend a question and answer session with him. His attention to detail is stunning. This is the type of movie where lots of gaffs could occur because the movie is about five stories that eventually come together. I did not notice any gaffs. The movie re-visits previous scenes from a different perspective. By 11:14 pm, all of the events come together. The attention to detail is important because the whole movie must tie together at the end. This movie perfectly ties together.

The acting, dialogue and action sequences are great. It's amazing how well this movie flows. As Mr. Marcks pointed out during the Q&A session, this movie should be seen as a black comedy. The movie is funny. This movie was influenced by "Cops" and other shows that show not-so-intelligent people. But the movie is intelligent. If it weren't, it wouldn't be good. Based on the reaction of the audience, this movie should be well received.

Half an hour or less of one night, two traffic accidents, one severed body part, several crimes or felonies, one silly dog, at least one spectacularly bad decision per character and two deaths make for 90 minutes of pure high-adrenalin fun. And smart fun at that! Of course, it's a bit like, say, Pulp Fiction on Vodka/Red Bull, but hey, I've been rarely entertained so well by other people's fiascoes.

The stories of about a dozen American small-towners intersect at 11:14 one night. Everybody has their own agenda, be it vandalism, fast money, sex, protecting the reputation of their daughter, or just to do their job, and most of them have had too much too drink - which leads to the aforementioned bad decisions. Some great acting (Shawn Hatosy and Patrick Swayze stand out), dynamic camera work and fast pacing keep 11:14 moving and viewers on their toes. And of course, there's always one more twist...

I saw 11:14 pre-release at the Fantasy Filmfest, and it was received very well. If film distributors are just a little smarter than the characters in this film, this should be a smash!