30 Miles

This was a good thriller with Lawerence Hilton Jacobs originally from the TV show Welcome Back Carter. He has come a long way in his acting. Although this movie is titled 30 Miles it covers a lot of action in this hour and a half movie. You are always left wondering who is the good guy and who is the bad guy! The scenes between the two passengers jumps back and forth between intense confrontations and male bonding. I never guessed the ending but WOW what an ending. I would recommend this movie to rent or buy. I found this movie at Blockbuster and will plan on renting more of this type of movie. Another movie I plan on renting next is Severed Ties. This is about two brothers caught in a moral dilemma.

I am not in the habit of writing a review for a film that I don't like but I was honestly shocked at how horrible this movie was.

I couldn't tell what was more atrocious. The horrible acting or the laughable script. I love the idea that Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs is finally getting a starring vehicle but his performance here made me see why he never took off in Hollywood. It was truly THAT bad.

The writing was wooden and incredible. Normal people don't speak like these guys did. They go from laughing to crying to anger in minutes. Why would you beg a hitchhiker to get back in your car after 20 minutes of driving? Why would you reveal such incriminating details of your life story after knowing someone for an hour? Why would you allow a stranger with a gun in your car?

Horrible. And the camera work didn't help, either. I'm no expert but here's a tip: when showing a gritty, close up scene, try taking the camera off sticks and going hand-held to get an edgier, more nervous feel. I felt like I was watching public access theater for a while there.

Overall, this is a good concept for a film. The execution, however, drowned the story in a sea of amateurish and obvious mistakes that kids in their second month of film school are warned against.

I wish the actors and crew of this film long, fruitful careers in the entertainment industry but you'll need to bury the masters of this stinker for that to occur. Two words: Alan Smithee.

Choreography opens by following the characters as they drive thru some beautiful country, but most of the movie is filmed at night from inside of a S.U.V. Camera use was very well done within this limited setting.

Score had a 1980's movie of the week sound to it, but unlike many B movies, the sound and editing was very well done.

The script was often simplistic and unrealistic exacerbated during scenes when the acting was stiff and sub par, oddly alternating between times when the script was serious/meaningful and the acting was melodramatic. There were glimpses from both actors of genuine talent, especially from Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, but neither was consistent.

The pace is slow. The story is presented by these two characters talking with each other as they are travelling. The only "tension" and/or build up comes from the oddity of one of the characters. At first it is an innocent oddity, and so the tension is minimal. Although it attempts to "escalate" tension by introducing a gun and other character behaviors to make us question whether that oddity is dangerous, it is never punched thru strongly enough so there remains very minimal tension. (until the last 15 minutes)

An hour into the movie (the film is only an hour and 20 minutes long) I still had no idea what the meaning of the movie was, where it was going or why. The last 15 minutes, what I thought the purpose was, is revealed.

Then the twist. Which was the smartest part of the movie, but it takes up about 2 minutes of the film.

It wasn't a bad idea, and it is unique. But after an hour spent with these two characters and still not able to feel genuinely connected or caring towards them, the ending fell flat for me.

Somehow couldn't take my eyes off this movie. Some person's strange idea of what characters they envision might actually act like.

An idea that bears no resemblance to reality. Its a sorta childish attempt at something deep and meaningful, but its so contrived that I just kept watching it in amazement, wondering what simpleton put it together.

It reminds me, actually, of this pathological liar I once worked with, that would concoct the most ridiculous transparent lies in order to avoid simple tasks, lies so absurd that I felt actually bad for him, to wonder what world he lived in that he could dream this stuff up and then actually try and execute it.

It was somehow mildly entertaining, I did actually watch the whole thing... Like I said, a car crash.

Was there uneven acting? Absolutely! Was it believable in every twist and turn of the dialog? Not really. Yet, this movie is a prime example of the sum being bigger than it's parts. Even if the acting is at times waaay overwrought, and the changes in the mood of the conversation occasionally seemed artificial, it still worked for three reasons: 1) The characters, even if not totally believable, were interesting 2) you couldn't predict where the movie was going, and 3) it never got pretentious. If you can handle the movie's shortcomings, ie disregard some of overacting, this movie is, with what very little it actually has beyond a GREAT concept and story, and mediocre execution, immensely entertaining, and ultimately works because at least some of the gripes that you might have underway, makes sense at the end. Had the acting been better, and some of the more outrageous turns in the conversation been cut or altered, this movie could have been a masterpiece, but as it is, still ends up being more than worth seeing.