23 Minutes to Sunrise

A diner plays hosts to a very different group of people, one of the couples however hold a very strange and dark secret.

Imagine a snapshot of a horror movie, that's what this film is, the build up, without the bite.

It's a story, and you the viewer are left to fill in the blanks, to imagine the blood bath for yourself, if you can use your imagination, you can ponder all sorts, from the plane crash to the ending, what would he have done when he got his hands on that waste of space?

Now, in not normally much of a fan of Eric Roberts, not sure if that's him, or the calibre of film they he usually appears in, but I quite liked him in this, he played the part well.

I wouldn't say it's brilliant, but it's worth seeing.

6/10.

Clocking in at a brief 78 minutes, 23 Minutes to Sunrise is hard to classify in terms of specific genre. It contains elements of drama, suspense, horror, and even war, as it tells the tale of the two employees and six customers of the Sunrise Diner. Although it is Eddie that is the main protagonist in the film, it is through Sheila, the diner's waitress, that we see the main interactions of the film. The moments shared between she and Eddie prove to be the strongest in the movie.

Recently returned from his second tour of Iraq and Afghanistan, Eddie is trying to piece his life together and find out what direction he wants it to take. Sheila and Eddie bond over their many late nights working together at the diner, and a deep friendship develops. But when a familiar face from his days at war shows up to the diner, all hell will break loose.

23 Minutes to Sunrise is a very engaging and interesting film that is allows for the viewer to think deeply about the past, the future, and their own view on eternal life. Adding to that is the interesting cinematography of the piece and excellent performances. Each of the actors, with perhaps a couple exceptions, brings great depth to their characters, even with a small amount of screen time.

This all makes the film sound very serious, but in fact, it is also very entertaining. Eric Robert's performance as Daniel is incredibly fun to watch. But it is Jilanne Klaus' Sheila that is the driving force of the film. She is the one figure that connects all of the characters together, allowing for both intense and intimate moments to be shared on screen.

If you are in the mood for a thriller that is a bit deeper than the usual heist film, 23 Minutes to Sunrise is one that you will want to check out. Both enjoyable and thought-provoking, it is one to look out for.

I have absolutely no other reason for choosing to watch this little film other than it sounded interesting…I love talky films where you Know something is up but you just can't figure out what, and this film pulls that off perfectly.

The film starts off filling in a little back story of all the characters, how they end up being at the diner, and establishing just enough of their characters as we need to set the scene.

And onto the scene, set in a pretty standard diner in American, in the early hours of the morning, almost puts me in mind of that painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper, put in the present day, maybe that's where writer/director Jay Kanzler picked up his core inspiration? So that's the scene set, now the players.

Working the night shift in the diner we have the chef (Eddie, a young War Vet played by Dingani Beza) and the waitress (Sheila, played Jilanne Klaus), the patrons include a middle aged couple trying to fix a struggling marriage, a young couple who are on the edge of a crime spree, and our mysterious couple, an older man, who has no regard for others (Played by Eric Roberts) and younger girl, who has a secret (Played by Nia Peeples) Now all these characters all have their own story lines through most of this film, they occasionally play off each other but they are essentially separate, and all the little stories are interesting to see play out, all the while establishing their characters. Then we have the the mysterious couple, I can't say much about them without giving the story away but it's clear from early on that there is something more than normal happening within their little story.

Now this is a short film, only 1 hour and 18 minutes long, but I'm thankful for that, I really think writer/director Kanzler got the length of this movie perfect for all the different characters to develop and their stories to fill out and eventually converge in what I felt was a really powerful and intense ending.

A very well written, stylish, and for the most part, well acted film, why I say "for the most part" is because there were a few scenes that I felt either the acting talent was wavering, or they were struggling with a line that could be seen by some folks as being a little bit corny. Now don't let this put you off the film, as I said, it was well acted for the most part, and having one or two cringes for the occasional corny line is worth it to see how the full story plays out.

Well worth a watch by the talky fans out there.

Worst acting, terrible plot, completely uninteresting, did I mention bad acting? I would rather be punched in the throat than ever have to sit through that movie again. I've seen better performances by drunk homeless people on the subway. I had to actually fast forward through most of it because I couldn't handle how embarrassed I was for the actors. Whoever plays the main character Eddie seriously needs to find another line of work because acting is just not in the cards for him. I was expecting a horror movie but it never gets scary, there is no character development, just shallow characters often repeating their lines over and over as if that is all it takes for you to understand their characters.

I thought this movie was very good. I really like the characters and felt like I connected with Eddie. Some of the things that he was thinking out loud about are things that I myself have contemplated.

I thought the dialog was very well written and enjoyed the witty conversations between the characters. I especially enjoyed the manic-depressive type behaviors that the young criminal displayed. I have known people who actually behave like that.

Shelia's character was also very well played as she demonstrated the cycle of abuse to the viewer.

I also like towns like Sauget, IL and the gritty feel that they have. Thanks for reading.