11:14 DVD > Reviews > Be With You in a Minute!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	A keeper and a genuine bargain at $12 . 99 (US) on Amazon !
Disadvantages:	Jumps in perspective are often difficult for viewers, but necessary to this story !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Civilizations have risen and fallen in the turn of an instant, and Fate often displays a quirky and rather dark sense of humor. In this film we see several seemingly unrelated lives intersect dramatically at precisely 11:14pm on one random evening. A drunk driver who believes he hit and killed someone, three teenage boys tooling around town in a van who do hit someone, a very overworked and confused law enforcement officer, two convenience store clerks with a make-cash-fast plan that goes rapidly awry, a hapless and morally devoid boyfriend, two seemingly normal and protective parents, one dangerously bored and sociopathic self-centered young woman, and two civic-minded EMT workers become the pawns of Fate and, in most cases, victims of their own karma.

Naturally, this film bounces around a lot as it weaves these stories together into a coherent whole. If you find films with multiple characters and rapidly shifting perspectives not to your taste, then I would recommend you skip this one. Personally, I was utterly fascinated in a rather "I really don't want to see this, but can't look away!" manner. 11:14 is curiously repellant and attractive in equal measures, and transforms ordinary lives into an extraordinary string of event in a whirlwind 85 minute run time. After I had a chance to catch my breath, it was easy to see that the likelihood of individual lives intersecting in such a convoluted and outrageous manner are slim at best. Yet, the film managed to draw me in so thoroughly while viewing that I was simply carried away by the characters and the events that inextricably binds their lives together forever, without once really questioning the "reality" of it all. That alone speaks highly for the film.

I particularly enjoyed it's darkly comedic moments that so mirror life, and the underlying message that sooner or later we reap the consequences of our choices and actions. In many of the characters' reactions it was easy to see the grit of reality. For example, in the aftermath of a crisis one character's immediate response is to blame his friend for the consequences he is now suffering rather than accepting any responsibility for his own poor choices. His friend's response? He fired the attitude right back at him with an extra charge of anger and threats. This is all too common in any given situation it seems, a typical human response. The third friend is the one who steps up to the moral plate and tries to set things straight as best as he can without generating or feeding any more such destructive behaviors. That could easily be the history of humanity!

The cast alone makes for a fascinating and talented mix. Barbara Hershey, Henry James, Patrick Swayze, Sean Hatosy, Hilary Swank, Ben Foster and Jason Segel working together was intriguing and wholly satisfying. Although Segel's role is relatively small, it is none the less memorable and I hope to see more of him in the future. Foster managed to actually shock me with this role and I definitely saw him here as I have never seen him before! This film deserves it's R rating, yet, aside from prolific use of the grand F word and truly unnerving moments, most of the jolts are more suggestive than graphic. You know, moments where you find yourself thinking, "Gee, bet the sound/fx people had fun with that one!" These roles were definitely a departure for Swayze, who is so often the hero or central figure, and Hatosy, who I recognized immediately from the wonderful film "Outside Providence". Complex, multi-faceted, thrilling, humorous and tragic... Check your watch, isn't it about time you saw 11:14?

Image and Sound:

1.85:1 aspect ratio

Special Features: Deleted scenes, storyboards and a director's commentary should be standard on any DVD, and I typically enjoy perusing them at my leasure. The "Making of" featurette was entertaining and well put together. I always enjoy hearing the actors perspective balanced with the director's. This often fleshes out a film for me. Character Jump is the unique feature on this DVD. With this function on while watching the film one can jump from one character's perspective to someone else in the film who is simultaneously living out their portion of the story. Fun!

Final Words:
Lively, entertaining, great cast, interesting stories, believable engaging characters, and complex enough for multiple viewings. Honestly, I don't know how I missed this film for so long.