7 Minutes

"In and out within seven minutes". That's the plan for three guys staging a brazen armed robbery at a local bank. Of course if the job had gone smoothly there wouldn't be any reason to make a movie and so naturally the job goes pear shaped. Bullets fly and unexpected circumstances arise. Suddenly, what they thought was a close-knit plan, becomes an all in-affair with other persons stepping into the equation.

7 MINUTES crept up on me and took me by surprise. In fact I had never heard of it up until the point of it landing in my hands. The cover art and poster treatments were confronting and my attention was perked immediately. It is an accomplished piece of independent film-making from a first time director Jay Martin. He has constructed a multi-layered crime film with an intentionally disjointed narrative that uses the robbery itself as the backbone. The course of the film switches its focus from one character to the next and details each of their movements leading up to the crime itself. They each their own reason for being involved and when faced with the botched job it's every man for himself.

The performances here are all good. Former Aussie HOME & AWAY star Luke Mitchell has made the transition to the American scene with ease and he makes a strong impression here in his first leading role. The support around him includes players such as Jason Ritter, Kevin Gage, Kris Kristofferson and Joel Murray. All give solid turns with the stand-out being Kevin Gage. He conjures up a terrifying and psychopathic performance that lifts the film to another level.

Technically 7 MINUTES is also savvy and skilfully structured. The cinematography is awesome with wide sweeping shots and creative angles that are never so pretentious as to be distracting. The use of slow motion with an effective score by tomandandy compliment the design and offer the movie an extra coat of polish.

Of course there are also a lot of clichés and obvious tropes exploited in the film, as well as some convenient plot holes and irrelevant explorations of character traits. Ordinarily such things would irk me but with an ensemble of solid performances paired with a concise production design and a kinetic score the film moves at a breakneck pace and never oversteps its mark. With a structure not too far removed from RESERVOIR DOGS and an atmosphere of THE TOWN meets HEAT, 7 MINUTES is a surprise crime film that ought to impress most fans of the genre.

"There are two rules that everybody knows. First, don't go in with anybody who has more to lose than you. What is the other rule? You got cement in your ears. Don't get caught."

Are you a big fan of, or you have a fetishism for an abundance of flashbacks, then "7 Minutes" will be perfect for you. Because, believe me, you just bent over to scratch yourself at an annoying place because there's an irritating itch, and before you know it you swallow another flashback. Or you just grabbed for the half-empty packet of paprika chips .... BANG .... another flashback. This was like a doubles match at Wimbledon with four pepped first-rank players. The flashbacks will fly around your ears (backhandwise). So paying attention is the message. Otherwise you've lost the thread in this tangle of intersecting story lines. Indeed Sir, within 7 minutes!

Sam (Luke Mitchell), Mike (Jason Ritter) and Owen (Zane Holtz) are the three central figures. Three schoolmates who are leading a not so rosy life. Sam was an American football star with a scholarship and the accompanying mandatory cheerleader Kate (Leven Rambin). Their future looked promising, but an ankle injury put spikes in the wheel. The end result is a miserable, poor life with Sam working in a factory and his pregnant wife Kate as a waitress in a restaurant. Mike (Sam's brother) is in the same boat (the American Dream boat that sailed as Mike claims) and he tries to survive by selling weed. Owen's life isn't exactly a success story either. He's the son of Mr. B (Kris Kristofferson) who leads the local mafia. Owen just left prison. He got convicted after colliding with an obese security guard in a not so gentle way. To be honest, those guys aren't the brightest minds in this local town.

Yep, they aren't smart. You'll notice that immediately. When they set up the plan to go into business with a notorious drug dealer, this goes awfully wrong thanks to panicky Owen. An anxiety attack makes him flush XTC tablets, worth $ 62,000, down the toilet of a petrol station. Hence the next stupid idea : robbing Sam and Mike's uncle. This will only take 7 minutes. Voila, and thus the title of the film is also explained. Needless to say that again this is a stupid plan. Who is so stupid to commit a robbery in a town where everybody knows you? And why the hell did they pick someone related to them? It's a plan doomed to fail. Especially when other complications turn up as well. Believe me, the story lines are subtle but also in a complicated way interwoven with each other. And that makes this seemingly simple bank robbery story unnecessarily complicated.

It reminded me a bit of "Cut Bank". Only the latter was far more cynical and humorous. The three clumsy friends were interpreted in a reasonable manner by the respective actors. But really memorable it wasn't either. Kristofferson's contribution was way too limited to make a judgment, but this kind of character fits him. The only ones that stood out were Kevin Gage, as trigger-happy Tuckey who changed the tone of the film abruptly from average to violent, and Brandon Hardesty as the pathetic, obese Jerome who spontaneously starts crying while looking at himself in the mirror. The bank robbery itself may not look as stupid as the one in "American Heist", but otherwise this film isn't memorable either. "7 Minutes" is an uninspired, ridiculous film that provides momentary entertainment. However, I didn't mind that it took more than seven minutes.

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Sometimes I don't know why modern productions insist on time warping their ideas. 7 Minutes is full of flashbacks, in fact, there is at least one for each significant character. Mind you, the characters are believable, and the production is certainly good. Wrong side of the tracks youths mix with small time hoods, and other small town types. That's a treat. Almost as good as Fargo. Tarantino doesn't use a lot of flashbacks as I recall, and yet we forgive him unspectacular starts. For me, 7 Minutes needed that approach. Don't get me wrong, this is still a great movie and the flashbacks do work as entertainment. My opinion is that the movie may have worked better with a straighter timeline and less flashbacks.

Timing is everything and this movie succeeds in relating its story in scenes involving each of its main characters in the 7 minutes the criminals involved in a robbery have planned before the cops arrive. All the actors are superb. Unusual Seattle setting. If you like character and suspense movies told in a different way you'll like this one.

An interesting story line and character presentation, somewhat of a love story. There was some confusion as to the links between characters. Although there were jumps in time, it made sense in the overall context. Repeated scenes did not add to understanding of the storyline, although they reinforced the theme of the movie. Some good ethical decision points were presented. Wonderful to see familiar scenes from Everett. Only downside was the character Jerome, the policeman. I felt that Jerome was portrayed in a less than flattering way to the Everett Police Department. All that being said, I would give this movie a thumbs up and a definite "go see".