2:13 (2009)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

2:13 is your usual run-of-the-mill style serial killer thriller that looks like it was made and shot in the mid-'90s. Even the way the cast includes supporting roles for various seasoned players like Kevin Pollak and Dwight Yoakam reminded me of the old days of film-making.Although the DVD cover makes this look like a horror movie, it really isn't. It's just a thriller with a handful of gory moments. I find films like this fail or succeed due to the nature of the killer and how memorable he or she is. Unfortunately, 2:13's killer is entirely forgettable. The rest of the film is a muddle of flashbacks and convoluted scenes, with token blonde Teri Polo shining her flashlight around and getting herself into danger. It's not very interesting.

A police profiler with psychiatric issues, leading an unhealthy lifestyle returns to duty only to be caught up in a serial killer's spree, with the murderer having a personal fixation with his pursuer.Although feeling like a moodier, more edgy and graphic crime show episode 2:13 is a run of the mill little thriller reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs and Saw with some great grisly special makeup effects. Nevertheless, Thompson's story unravels in the closing act, thankfully it picks itself back up briefly prior to the closing credits.Subtle, casual Mark Thompson is on form as alcoholic Russell Spivey. Talented actress Teri Polo (Beyond 2012) has a meaty role with Kevin Kevin Pollak having an effective extended cameo. Notable is Jere Burns in a supporting role even if somewhat underutilised.While well directed by Charles Adelman it's derivative of the genre and it will probably come as no surprise that Thompson also wrote/produced 2:13 as he gives an effort injected performance.Logic flaws aside, worth watching if only for the Pollack's cameo, Thompson's hard work and Jodie Foster-like Polo's central role.

Unless you're game for checking out anything you see in a store, or on TV, "2:13" is not really worth your time. It's really nothing we haven't seen many times before, in similarly themed "psychological thrillers". Leading actor / screenwriter Mark Thompson (better known as a radio personality) plays profiler Russell Spivey, with two predominant, oh so familiar characteristics: he's full of inner demons, and has turned to alcohol as a result. While he gets caught up in a serial murder case, in which the murderer has a personal connection to him, he makes frequent visits to a psychiatrist played by Kevin Pollak. Oh, and he just happens to have been romantically involved with one of his colleagues, played by the sexy Teri Polo of the "Meet the Parents" franchise. This is one of those scripts where one would swear the screenwriter was going down a list of popular clichés and ticking them off as he utilized them. Thompson does make some attempt at originality by using the Shakespeare comedy "As You Like It" (!) as a plot element, as well as some attempt at profundity, but it just doesn't come off. Oppressive atmosphere, and recurring use of disturbing / gory imagery can only help so much. The main cast features a number of familiar faces, who each bring some credibility to the production, and take their roles seriously, not that they can do much to raise it above an average level. Jere Burns ('Dear John', 'Something So Right') plays one of Thompson's colleagues (and, in fact, worked with Thompson and Pollak in a previous movie, "Mother Ghost"), Lyman Ward ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") is the police captain, Ken Howard ('Dynasty', 'The Colbys', 'Crossing Jordan') is a sheriff, country music star & actor Dwight Yoakam is the character Sandy, and Mark Pellegrino ('Lost', "Capote") is a distraught husband. What "2:13" really can't overcome are the holes in Thompson's screenplay, chief among them the revelation of who the killer is; there are ways this could have been solved but as it is the whole thing is bungled. Too bad; this could have been at least somewhat better. Five out of 10.

I am also a bit of a sucker for these types of movies, but I am also aware that many of these are fairly derivative and unimaginative (or in some cases a little too convoluted).This was a slightly better than average entry into the genre, although not ground-breaking or anything. The relationship between Amanda Richardson and Russell Spivey (Teri Polo and Mark Thompson) was fairly tedious and underused. It seemed that the writers thought their relationship would be interesting, started writing it but then ran out of ideas for them.The Amanda Richardson character was fairly underused throughout the movie to be honest.Russell Spivey the alcoholic profiler / detective is also a bit of a cliché which I could do without seeing again - it is a bit of lazy story telling. Writers: "Lets make our detective interesting by giving him guilt about some past perceived failing that drives him to alcoholism", Actors: "But hasn't that been done a 1000 times before?", Writers : "Lets make it 1001" But apart from these criticisms of some of the more generic aspects of the writing and the slightly underused Teri Polo the film was relatively enjoyable. The acting was reasonably strong and the direction performed it's function. The "twist" in the story was OK, I had got the "twist" about 1/2 way through, but I had got the responsible party themselves wrong so it was a half-surprise.Anyway - if you are fan of this genre - don't expect something as good or original as Seven or Silence Of The Lambs, but there are many worse entries than 2:13