30 Miles

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.

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.

This film is a perfect example of how entertaining a film can be without all of the Hollywood "tricks" like gratuitous violence, gratuitous sex and overkill with special effects. These film makers are very brave and I applaud them. Everyone involved in this project was "working without a net" and they succeeded masterfully. A thought provoking script and riveting performances that kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing what will come next. I know this was a low budget, art house film. They didn't have "A" list talent, or all of the bells and whistles of a major studio release. But they made an entertaining, thought provoking psychological thriller out of words and basically 2 guys in a car. Very brave! I hope more people have a chance to see this film. Well done!

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.