12:01 PM

The similarities between this 30 minute "movie" from 1990 and the feature movie "Groundhog Day" from 1993 are too similar for them to not be more closely related. The latter surely must have been influenced by the earlier movie.

The stories are very similar, but even more similar is the outstanding way in which both movies are directed. Even though the "same" timeframe is being repeated, the director shifts the camera perspective and dialogue encountered each time so neither film is boring.

This was a corker of a short SF film - highly intelligent writing, and loads better than Heap's full length remake a few years later - which had an unnecessary happy ending - and tons better than the (undeservedly) better known Groundhog Day.

Last seen on Channel 4 in the UK about 12 years ago, and never commercially released, as far as I can tell ... if anyone's got this on video please get in touch - maybe we can trade. Cheers

This is a thirty minute film I saw years ago on Showtime. It was part of some kind of short film series hosted by Rob Reiner. This was the best of the three. It involved a man who is doomed to inhabit the same hour over and over. When we first see Myron Castleman he's standing in an intersection. He goes to the park to eat his lunch. He goes back to the office. Then Bam! He's standing in the intersection again. He tries to change things within the hour. But an hour isn't enough time; so he always ends up at that intersection. At some point he realizes that he may be able to do something. At this point everything takes on a frenzied urgency. Myron must race against the clock to find a way out. Kurtwood Smith plays Myron with so much depth and emotion. I can't imagine any one doing a better job. I'm glad I taped this; I've seen it several times. It is a haunting film; a minor classic.

Following the main character through his trials and investigations you really get a feeling of the horror and turmoil the simple every man is going through.

I also came away from this film with the quote "Consciousness is an independent variable".

Of the two 12:01 movies I consider this the more impressive. As other reviewers have mentioned the film focuses on a 59 minute loop, and shows that if you only have one hour to live over and over again then you can't achieve very much.

If you've seen Groundhog day and seriously got into the time loop, wanting to know more about why the main character was stuck then this movie might appeal as you here some science.

The little-seen '12.01' is a real gem, and displays the beauty of short films. Just the right length to explore the intriguing premise without over staying its welcome. I wish more feature length movies showed the subtlety and invention of this one!

Kurtwood Smith (Verhoeven's classic 'Robocop', and Jennifer Lynch's absolute stinker 'Boxing Helena') has never been better as a meek office worker who finds that the world is caught in a time loop, and that he is the only person conscious of the fact. Smith is utterly believable as the bewildered and desperate man who frantically searches for some kind of explanation/solution for his extraordinary situation.

A classic of its kind. Try and see it!