11:14

USA / Canada, 2003. Directed by Greg Marcks. Henry Thomas, Barbara Hershey, Hilary Swank, Shawn Hatosy, Colin Hanks, Patrick Swayze, Rachael Leigh Cook.

Jack (Henry Thomas), who has been drinking, is talking on his phone and driving his car when a body drops across his windscreen. The title of the film refers to the time on his dashboard clock just before the impact. Just as he’s trying to fathom it out another driver (Hershey) passes by and thinks he’s hit a deer. Trying to be helpful, she calls the police. Jack panics and hides the body in his boot but before he can drive away a patrol car arrives. So begins a dark comedy thriller which makes little sense at the outset but which by the end of the film has slotted everything into place very neatly. It’s a sort of jigsaw puzzle – we see the events which happen around the same time slot five different times, but each time the emphasis is on a different set of characters and events and with each new angle we understand the overall story a little more. Along the way we meet, amongst others, a father (Swayze) trying to cover up a murder he thinks was committed by his daughter (Cook), three teenagers responsible for a hit-and-run accident, one of whom suffers a severed penis in their desperate attempt to get away and two convenience store workers (Swank and Hatosy) who find themselves at odds with each other when one of them decides he’s going to rob his employers. If all that sounds complicated, well it is, but although the whole story is even more complex than my description it’s understandable once we learn all the facts. Despite the presence of a few big names this is has the feel of a modest film which is watchable and intriguing without being a blockbuster. My only criticism would be that my sympathies couldn’t engage with any of the characters, but on the plus side it maintained a fast pace throughout and, at just 85 minutes long, it kept me watching and didn’t wear out its welcome.