In a world where action movies become more visceral, more demanding in their production and cinematography, "The Midnight Man" employs a sluggishly poor combat. Nevertheless, it also offers a few funny exchanges with solid script and presentable acting performance. The end product is a somewhat enjoyably one night stand with glaring flaws which are forgivable depending on your expectation.
Grady (Will Kemp) is a fixer for a mob boss with unique ability to not feel pain. In one bad night, he must eliminate four targets that may have more connection than he thinks. There's a shade of Ryan Reynolds here, as Will Kemp dons a similar witty agent while running from one bizarre situation to the next. He gets the jester part right, although there's some shoddy moments when trying to emulate a hardened criminal.
Brinna Kelly as Zan, the unlucky paramedic who got caught in the crossfire, is a fairly decent love interest and weird partner. Usually, this kind of Jason Statham's Transporter suave romance doesn't pay off, but the acting and chemistry makes it work more often than not. The supporting cast like Doug Jones and William Forsythe also deliver on the outlandishly named and portrayed characters.
The problem, and it's a rather significant one, comes when it tries to do action sequences. It's utterly horrible, bordering on Bollywood level. This makes the sturdy, flamboyant or charismatic characters into feeble men trying to deliver a punch and fail. At a couple of points it becomes ridiculous, which perhaps might be serendipitous or even intentional, but it betrays the serious thriller tone it just builds for five minutes.
Messy and sketchy, but hilariously entertaining at times. it's a sloppy trudge through a peculiar night elevated by its clever and humorous script.
