23 MINUTES TO SUNRISE
NR
80 Minutes
Director: Jay Kanzler
Writers: Patrick Pinkston, Jay Kanzler
Eric Roberts, Nia Peeples, Bob Zany
Cast
Daniel…Julia Robert’s Brother
Rachel…Mia Peeples
Eddie…Dingani Bess
Ted…Bob Zany
Sheila …Jilanne Klaus
Hannah…Haley Busch
‘Pssst… psssssst… Are you afraid to die, or do you wanna live forever …’
-2pac, ONLY FEAR OF DEATH
23 MINUTES TO SUNRISE reminds me of that NIGHTHAWKS painting. A bunch of miserable people eating at a corner diner, watching 23 MINUTES TO SUNRISE on television. Most of this film takes place at a diner.
Something about this diner is a bit off; maybe it’s the cherry pie. It’s not hell, we know that much. The only restaurants in hell are Denny’s and IHOP. Maybe Arby’s, depending on which circle of Dante’s hell you happen to reside in. Either way, there would be Muzak with Lenny Kravitz ‘FLY AWAY’ playing on a constant loop.
‘Some people are afraid to die; sometimes, I think waking up alive seems worse.’
These are the words of an intriguing line cook at a late-night diner. His tours in both, Iraq and Afghanistan, have filled his soul with an existential thirst, which can never be quenched, not even with the mightiest chalice of Sprite . His figurative wounds can only be healed with a pen and paper. Eddie is using GI Bill money to take an English class at the University…of Devry.
Daniel is one of many shady people, eating at the diner. He’s there with, what appears to be, a 30-year old female. She has 23 minutes to trade her immortality with an unsuspecting diner patron (I don’t understand how 23 minutes get stretched out to 80).
I like how they went with the name Daniel. Nothing too clever, like ‘John Milton’, ‘Joe Black’, or ‘Grim Reaper’. Just Daniel.
Eric Roberts, you might recognize him as the villain from THE SPECIALIST. On the small screen, he is known for his cameo on CELEBRITY REHAB.
An interesting premise, that fails to explore significant questions. Trim this down, and this could be the opening scene in an X-FILES episode.
Immorality has its perks and its drawbacks. Immortality though, that’s the business, there is only upside. Even someone with eternal life, might not have enough time to see this eighty minute film.
Final Verdict: 43 out of 100
