Madrugada Mortal

A deep and sensitive study of a social group's everyday life . Surely an intellectual film, sometimes difficult to grasp but fascinating and intriguing as well. Love, madness, moral dilemmas, death,"nostos" are the ingredients of this exciting movie which invites us to a "voyeuristic" cab ride through a multi-ethnic reality.

"3 a.m." shuttles between a half dozen characters having to do with a struggling NYC cab company and a diner frequented by some of the drivers during the reign of terror of a cabby killer. A confused and unsatisfying watch, "3 a.m." is a jambalaya of people and circumstances which, for the most part, are uninteresting, poorly developed, and lacking in cohesion. Pass on this one.

This is a somewhat cold and dark look at the trials and tribulations of NYC streets after dark. Cab drivers keep working despite the fact a serial killer is on the loose and is targeting cabbies. Story line and script a bit rough, but it gives you the feel of reality. This movie gradually grabs your interest and holds on tight.

Danny Glover plays a former pro basketball player turned cab driver. A very good performance as usual. Playing his love interest is Pam Grier, a waitress in a diner. Flawless job turned in by Ms. Grier; and she is still a looker. Supporting cast includes Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Calderon, Sergej Trifunovic and Fisher Stevens. Cameos by Spike Lee and Walt Frazier.

Interesting slice of life from a young director. Saw this at Sundance and thought it looked and felt like a Spike Lee joint - he produced. Grier and Glover don't quite have the chemistry you'd hope for and some of the characters are a little shrill and bleak - but worth seeing anyway. I loved the bit part Melanie Torres had. I'd like to see more of her - vavavoom!

I thought the movie was pretty good overall..the actors did a great job...the story seemed to be missing something though...It was nice to see Treach and Guru showing some acting skills...Danny Glover always holds his own and seems to bring out more in his castmates..Michelle Rodriguez shows she's growing as an actress since her debut in "Girlfight", I wish they would have used that more in "The Fast And The Furious"(then again, that's a summer action flick)anyway...It's always cool to see Pam Grier..and Serita Choudhury was good too,i just didn't understand what was going on with her at the end in the diner...was it the business or the deaths that had her upset?...anyhoo! the movie was cool, and I look forward to more films from Lee Davis.