Approaching Midnight (2013)

Touches You

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

What an incredible joyride of a movie. Approaching Midnight is what good indie films are all about and I was interested in the fact that it was shot in Detroit, a city that has seen a lot of Hollywood productions in the past 10 years and Approaching Midnight takes a very crafting and mesmerizing chance at the locations that the city has to offer on film, In the opening war sequence, I was simply awed at how they pulled this off in the city. To my amazement the same location was used a few years later in Batman v Superman" in the Bruce Wayne dream sequence ... Coincidentally actor Sam Logan Khaleghi also makes a cameo in the superhero franchise. Granted Jana Kramer was in the film for about half the running time as the movie is about solving her disappearance did very well. Her appearance in the movie is similar to The Hangover's Justin Bartha, where he appears at the beginning of the film, the middle a little bit and then at the end.

This was a great independent film hailing from the state of Michigan, it discuss family relationships, friendships amongst soldiers and incredibly showcases the beautiful scenery of Michigan. Jana Kramer is a wonderful actress and did splendid with the rest of her cast.The story is edgy, smart and dives into relateable human emotions and aspects of returning from war. The film is action packed when it needs to be and curves around the corners with excellent aim character development. If you missed it in theatres it is on DVD and I do think its a good buy for those who like good music, good acting and independent film.

This is borderline almost perfect, but borderline, I wish the war scenes were a little longer, and I wanted a tad bit more exposition on Kent's relationships with The Mayor and Natalie Church. However beyond those wishes, I found the film a rather pleasurable and masterful time at the film festival where I saw the movie.Written, directed and produced by Sam Logan Khaleghi, "Approaching Midnight" tells the story of a returning Army staff sergeant Wesley Kent (Khaleghi), to a small town middle America home from serving in Afghanistan and Iraq (to make mention, Kent's character has a scene in which he refers to having served in Iraq prior to his time with his Army Captain (played by real life Army Lieutenant Matt Szymanski) in Afghanistan; Therefore, Kent has served in both international war conflicts. Upon his return, he finds out that Aspen Malverne has died recently in a car accident (this is not a major spoiler however) and he now utilizes his skills as a special forces character to find out the truth to her accident. It is at this point the film takes on an action/mystery piece to it.

It was difficult to watch this movie. The script concept was weak and not very original. This same plot has been done before going all the way back to the 1970's with returning vets discovering corruption back home. The dialog is trite and uncomfortable, often without any attempt at an authentic southern accent on the part of the actors. The camera work shows no creativity or careful thought. at times it looked as if they just set it up anywhere and just shot. But by far the editing is the worst of the lot. The scenes often hold on something unimportant (like a door) as if something else will happen, and then nothing does. Cuts within scenes often make little sense and we are left confused by the choices. When you put this all together you end up with a story you know could have been told better, characters that you don't really care about, and in the end you realize the whole thing was a complete waste of time.