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11:14
Directed by: Greg Marcks
Starring: Rachel Leigh Cook
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 86 min.
Release Date: Oct.
2005
On The Web:
Unofficial Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by Byron
Merritt |
In
the vein of LOVE ACTUALLY, 11:14 gives us a set of intersecting
storylines but in a very black comedy way. And while I enjoyed Love
Actually very much, 11:14 I enjoyed only marginally. Don't get me wrong,
it is entertaining. But a few times during the viewing I said, "No way
would it happen like that."
11:14 focuses on several lives that are forever changed at exactly the
same moment, and how each overlaps the other in strange and often
chuckling ways. The film starts out with Jack (Henry Thomas, E.T.)
driving down the road, half-drunk, when he runs over someone in his car.
Terrified that he'll go to jail, he quickly tucks the body into the back
of his car's trunk. Norma (Barbara Hershey) approaches the accident in
her own car, sees Jack, and quickly surmises that he's hit a deer
("Happens all the time right around here"). She helpfully calls the
police to notify them of the accident and drives away. Officer Hannagan
(Clark Gregg) shows up on the scene and uncovers the truth. Or is it the
truth? Did Jack really hit and kill this guy?
We back-pedal to another group of lives, a trio of young boys out for a
good time. They're driving around, drinking, and letting ...um
...everything hang-out. In fact, one of them decides to pee out the
window and it is during this time that the driver accidentally runs into
a young woman in the middle of the road, instantly killing her. How
terrible. Or is it? In the process of slamming on the brakes, the young
man who was peeing out the window loses his manhood, too. Ouch!
Another set involves Buzzy (Hilary Swank) and Duffy (Shawn Hatosy) who
are workmates at a local convenience store. Duffy needs cash and decides
to rob the store (with Buzzy's approval). Trouble is, Buzzy wants him to
wound her so that it looks like she was trying to protect the store and
won't get fired. A gunshot overheard. A bowling ball. A missing set of
keys. All of these things lead to some rather outlandish yet darkly
funny hijinks.
The final set of lives (mostly) are the family of the aforementioned
Norma (Hershey). She's married to Frank (Patrick Swayze) and they have a
daughter named Cheri (Rachael Leigh Cook) whom starts all of this
pandemonium. It is her who is on the phone with Jack (Thomas) at the
beginning of the film and it is this that causes Jack to get into the
"accident". It is also Cheri who is responsible for the death of a young
man by having sex with him in a cemetery and causing a headstone to fall
on his head, thus crushing his brains out. She's not a very nice lady,
out for "the money", and she's using everyone, including her father, in
order to get what she wants. She is the one who's responsible for the
dead guy that Jack hits; he didn't run-over and kill anyone. It was
Cheri's father throwing the body of the bashed-in-brains guy off an
overpass and landing on Jack's car. She's also the young woman who gets
hit and killed by the trio of boys out having a good time. And she's
been pretending to be pregnant and needing money from her boyfriends in
order to get an abortion. One of these boyfriends, as it turns out, is
Duffy, who would use the money from his robbery in order to pay for
Cheri's procedure. But her death puts a quick end to that and closes
pandora's box.
Twisting the viewer's perceptions is the game here, and it's pulled off
pretty well. The story was entertaining and I kept watching, only to be
amazed at how these lives intersected.
The only downside is the impossibility of certain aspects. Most notably
is the cop, Officer Hannagan, who is the only law enforcement official
we ever see. Considering all of the death, shooting, accidents, and
other bizarre occurrences, the police would've been swarming over these
scenes. But no. All we see is one lone officer with no crime scenes. Not
likely.
Still, the story moves along a great clip and the audience is
entertained by the unfolding stories.
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Images from 11:14
DVD cost: $8.41
Purchase:
Tower.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The character of Buzzy was
originally written as a man. When Hilary Swank read the script, it was
the character that "spoke to her" the most, and she asked
writer/director Greg Marcks to rewrite the role as a woman so that she
could play it, and he agreed.
Movie Quote: "Finding
out your fate is only a matter of time."
Other Actors/Actresses
from 11:14
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