Too Late

Once of best films in recent years. Sensitive. Great acting of John Hawkes.

I really like Film Noir and "Too Late" tries to be one but falls short. I appreciate indie films because they avoid the usual Hollywood mainstream stuff and I cut them a lot of slack, but this picture doesn't help you out. It is disjointed and not well written but I think director Dennis Hauck is on to something.

This effort, however, tends to lose the viewer with time frame juxtaposition which is too clever by half. I had to work at it to sort out the sequence of events and I think I nearly caught up by the end of the picture. Add to this the scenario which often lapses into the surreal and some overwritten dialogue (Dashiel Hammett is safe), and the cake falls.

John Hawkes was good as the detective but has an emaciated look. He is a stretch to be a hard-boiled 'noir' hero, which is a minor objection, but I hope Hauck perseveres and refines his ideas. There is a need to counteract the current trend toward the populist dreck that shows up in the multiplexes nowadays.

Wow,I really enjoyed this movie!! How has this gone virtually unnoticed? The dialogue is great and funny. So much style! Long takes make for real world feal. Crazy gritty flawed characters. Plenty of shocking twists. Soundtrack is very good and adds meaning to the scenes. This is the best movie i have seen in quite a while.

Any movie about a PI that looks decent will be on my radar. I not particularly a fans a special effects and action either. Gratuitous dialog coming off the wall from unlikely quirky characters is Noir to the bone! There is even some comments about classic noir in the script, which is clearly a homage. My favorite Tarrantino is the dialog heavy early stuff, and I don't have any use for "Kill Bill" and some of his other forays. I love "True romance","Jackie Brown", and "Reservoir dogs". The fact that the dialog is unlikely coming from characters in such circumstances, makes things interesting and less predictable to me. The movie also has some impacting plot twists, which caught me by complete surprise. If you want action, this won't be your thing. If you're into noir, good chance you'll like this flick.

This movie is shown as five episodes out of sequence, with a stunning twist at the end. Its style is an homage to the old fashioned crime noir genre, and while tiresome in spots, is well done overall. The characters and action seen at the beginning can give the impression that this is a marginal, unimportant piece, but it is really a work of art that must be seen from beginning to end.

If anything, this shows that a well-directed, well-scripted movie can even use low-life characters who are grade-school dropouts, who go through life pretending their inconsequential lives have meaning and importance, to produce a good film. The script elevates the usual stereotypes and trite conversation above the morass of every-day life, although some moments admittedly last too long.

Unless you see the film from beginning to end, even through the long annoying parts, you will not be able to fully appreciate how beautifully crafted this movie really is.