Midnight Special

This movie has many strong facets:

• Good performances from all the actors
• Beautifully shot
• Decent pace
• Interesting them/plot
• Brilliant soundtrack

The movie is set up well in the first 1/3. It keeps it hanging at 2/3. It convinces you that a profound message / reveal is imminent.

But then the final 3/3 fails to achieve that in the way that 'Arrival' or 'Signs' did. I know those are great movies and it's unfair to make a comparison. But when such an emphasis is placed on a reveal, you better think of something good. And it's in this area that the writers are guilty of laziness and/or lack of imagination.

Would give it a 6.5 if I could.

In Texas, Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) and Lucas (Joel Edgerton) are being hunted by the cops for kidnapping eight year old Alton Meyer. Alton's adoptive father Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard) leads the Ranch filled with his religious followers. They are raided by the FBI. NSA agent Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) is investigating the anomaly that is the boy. Alton shows unnatural powers with light streaming out of his eyes. Roy and Lucas eventually bring him to Sarah (Kirsten Dunst) on a rendezvous with destiny.

This has a great sense of sci-fi realism in a small indie. Shannon simply has intensity. There is a small hiccup when the boy gets captured by the authorities. That section feels disjointed with some logic problems. The movie unnecessarily over-reaches at that point. It could easily streamlined that into something grittier and smaller. In the end, this is a really nice sci-fi indie.

This reminded me of a couple of films, namely Close Encounters and Starman, but with everything good about them ripped out, thrown on the floor and stamped on.

What remained was an overall joyless experience as two sullen, largely monosyllabic mumbling men drove a kid with glowing eyes home for two hours. Of course they had a couple of hurdles to overcome but at no point do you think "Oh no, they're not going to get the glowing eyed kid home". Where previously films of this oeuvre have employed wit, humanity and a sense of wonder to fabulous effect the director of this sullen dross did little other than smash you repeatedly in the face shouting "I AM SERIOUS, I AM IMPORTANT" by making the repetitive turgid soundtrack blare progressively louder and louder. It was bombastic pseudo-intellectual rubbish masquerading as serious cinema.

Just because everyone looks miserable and hardly anyone says anything doesn't automatically make something good. You have to have talent to pull that off and make people care about your morose protagonists despite themselves. Whereas the only comparable thing this nonsense succeeded in doing was making me like a guy from the NSA, basically because he was the only one who seemed capable of speaking in entire sentences and looking slightly interested in what was going on.

I'd rather be forced to sit and watch E.T over and over again Clockwork Orange style for a week than expose myself to this inane garbage again. And I hate E.T.

Midnight Special is a modern day science fiction film with a very old school feel running through its veins. Jeff Nichols has made it no secret that classic sci-fi films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind are inspirations for his film however, I find the fact that his relationship with his own son was used as an inspiration too, much more intriguing.

Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) is an eight-year-old boy who possesses otherworldly powers. When his father, Roy (Michael Shannon), takes his son and flees from a religious cult, they must travel across the country to an undisclosed location on a specific date, during which a celestial and possibly world-changing event may occur.

Mystery is a strong point for Midnight Special, the entire mystery surrounding Alton's powers, what will happen on that specific date and the reason a religious cult want him back, all playing a part in making the story such a captivating one. Then comes the film's climactic moment. We get answers, but they end up ruining some of the mystery that made what came before so good. Less is more definitely sprung to mind as it all unfolded.

The story, written by Jeff Nichols, is a very good one and at the heart of that story is a rather beautiful relationship between a father and son. It adds another layer to the film rather than it just being a standard story about people on the run, and as mentioned earlier, it really feels like a personal film from Nichols. Not saying that his son has special powers though, so don't think that.

In a rather short directorial career, Nichols has made quite a name for himself and Midnight Special should further his reputation. It's a very well made film but if there was one thing that stopped it from being great, it was the pacing. Unfortunately, this film dragged itself out through a few scenes and it really bugged me.

I cannot fault the film for its performances mind. Michael Shannon possesses such a magnetic screen presence, you just can't take your eyes off him and Joel Edgerton certainly makes his presence felt, even if his role remains a little unexplained. Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver offer good support and Jaeden Lieberher is rather good as Alton.

It may be that, in time, I appreciate Midnight Special more however, my initial experience warrants me to say that it's not the special film I was hoping for.

A beautiful, touching story. Nice performances. Fascinating subject. And a seductive theory, Enough for a real good film about parenthood and special child, interest of secret services fabulous truth and happiness. A film for a real precise target.