5ive Days to Midnight (2004)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Good movie but grossly overrated

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Sometimes not having the parameters of a Hollywood film can make Television the best outlet for a brilliant film. Sure it might not have the special effects, stunts, even big names but you can see some really unique talent, and a strong story that is enthralling. Five Days Till Midnight is an edge of your seat murder mystery that combines some truly great performances with a even better storyline. Clocking in at 3 1/2 hours (another thing a Hollywood film could never accomplish) you would never know it. The film is over in a blink and you want more because it was so good. It's non-stop and so incredibly written by Robert Zappia (Halloween H20), David Aaron Cohen (The Devil's Own), Anthony Peckham (Don't Say A Word), and Cindy Myers.Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton leads the cast as Professor JT Neumeyer. Devastated by the loss of his wife, and deeply protective and loving of his beautiful daughter Jesse, he seems to finally be putting the pieces of his life back together including a new woman in his life. Hutton is intense, emotional, strong, a great leading man for this role. He also portrays brilliance and devotion to his daughter and you really feel for his character. He absolutely should have at least gotten an Emmy nod out of this. Randy Quaid is equally as brilliant as tough as nails Homicide detective Irwin Sikorski. Quaid's character seems a little dark, sinister and yet dedicated to his job and the people he serves. This is one of Quaid's best roles and certainly one of his most dramatic. He plays the role to the fullest. Kari Matchett plays Hutton's new love interest with a mysterious past Claudia Whitney. TV Fans will recognize Matchett from the sadly canceled Invasion. Matchett and Hutton make a good couple and I don't think Matchett is quite likable enough for the role but she does alright. Hamish Linklater plays the slightly disturbed but incredibly brilliant Carl Axelrod. His unbalanced performance is small but effective and he's great at it. Angus Macfadyen is the brutal mobster Roy Bremmer. I think Bremmer's role could have been bigger but the scenes he was in were very effective. He comes across as adequately evil and is the perfect bad guy but also the perfect scape goat for the murder mystery at hand. And last but certainly not least is the incredible performance by young Gage Golightly as Hutton's daughter Jesse. First of all Golightly has a striking resemblance to a young Drew Barrymore and equally charismatic on screen. Her role as Jesse is NOT a typical "kid" role and instead she is utilized to the fullest in the role. She's smart, and important to the story and she does such an incredible job. This should have been her claim to fame and rocketed her into bigger and better things and I'm sure she'll surface again in the future.Veteran TV director Michael W. Watkins does an incredible job setting up suspense and clues and an intriguing time travel type storyline without complicating things. Some would say it's almost too simplistic. For instance why doesn't any of the evidence change as J.T. changes the time-line?? Still it doesn't matter because everything fits together so perfectly and it's simplicity makes it so watchable. The characters are all so real and you just get brought into this twisted world of this seemingly normal, rather boring professor's life. Even when the film is over you'll have questions in your mind, and plenty to discuss, it's the ultimate water cooler film. This is a real treat and a hidden gem for sure. I think it's one of my favorites. 9/10

Someone in this forum gave this film 3 out of 5 after explaining why the first three eps are awesome while the other two are not. I thought that was cute.Also, a lot of people have been talking about certain hints of interrelated movies, etc. I love it when it happens. When different movies, shows and actors are interrelated. Sometimes it's by mistake. Other times it's specific clues embedded.I didn't find any connection between The Bedroom Window (starring Steve Gutenberg) and 5ive Days, but I won't be surprised any of you would. And I'll tell you why. But this post includes a significant 5ive Days spoiler from the third ep, and a very slight spoiler from Bedroom Window (that won't ruin the movie for you).There is a scene in which Steve Gutenberg is following a person who he suspects as a serial rapist and murderer. He follows him to a club, and they both stand on two different ends of the place, each trying to blend in. In the center there is a girl who is acting very seductively. She dances with all the guys, etc, acting very sexually. She has the same bracelets on her arm as Mandy Murphy from 5ive Days.In a later scene, Steve Guttenberg notices that near this club there is a big commotion. It's a crime scene. The cops are taking a body out of the place. They accidentally get the stretcher out of balance and the victim's right arm is falling off the sheet, just hanging. Again, we see the bracelets.Hutton in 5ive Days and Guttenberg in Bedroom Window both connected the body under the sheet with a person they met earlier. Hutton also verified that it actually was the person he thought it was. Guttenberg didn't have to. Anyway, I can't believe it was a coincidence. No way! Same friggin scene! A body under a sheet, on a stretcher, with about five hundred tons of bracelets on the right arm.

This is an awesome movie. I taped it when it was on television and I liked it so well I bought the DVD. It is one of those movies I can't get enough of and I have watched it several times. The actors are fantastic - that little girl is a magnificent actress. Timothy Hutton really shows what he is capable of. I was not familiar with Kari Matchett, but I would like to see more of her work. Randy Quaid was perfect as the stereotyped detective.The soundtrack (which I am still trying to find) is great - perfectly placed songs and music. The music enhanced the film rather than just disappearing into the background.If you have the opportunity to get the DVD, do. I watched the commentary and although I don't usually like to watch those (I hate knowing the secrets - I want to keep the magic), I did thoroughly enjoy the information. Their methods of shooting with multiple cameras and the time sequencing was explained and I'll always wonder why every film isn't made with multiple cameras. It really elevated this movie into an unforgettable film.I highly recommend this film to anyone. Don't be turned off if you don't like Sci-Fi - this is a movie for anyway who just wants to escape into an engrossing story.

Spoiler Alert I'm not a big Timothy Hutton fan, but 5 Days to Midnight really impressed me with his performance.The mini series which aired on Sci Fi Channel in the US, revolves around Physics Professor JT Neumeyer, whose wife died giving birth ten years ago to daughter Jesse Tracy Neumeyer, played exquisitely by Gage Golightly(who looks strikingly like Drew Barrymore). On the ten year anniversary of his wife's death (and daughter's birth) JT and Jesse visit the gravesite and find a sleek metal briefcase with JT's name on it.Eventually, JT opens the case and finds a homicide case file with photos of him, dead with a bullet in his head. Initially, JT thinks this is a hoax created by a psychologically disturbed student in his class, Carl Axlerod. However, things start to happen exactly as the contents of the briefcase suggest, and JT realizes that his death by the end of the week may be unstoppable.During the week, JT enlists the help of Police Detective Irwin Sikorski (played by the ever spectacular Randy Quaid)whose name was mentioned in the homicide file. Sikorski helps JT learn that his girlfriend, Claudia Whitney, is not who she says she is. Claudia is married to a Chicago crime lord, Roy Bremmer, who has tracked Claudia to Everett, Washington (the town where JT and Jesse live) where she fled to escape him. Meanwhile, it turns out that JT's brother in law, Brad Hume, a fellow professor at the college who lives a life of luxury, is going broke on bad stock picks and sees the metal briefcase that JT found as his ticket out of bankruptcy. The briefcase, it seems, is made of a futuristic composite of carbon nanotubes and if Brad can back-engineer it he could sell the patent rights for millions of dollars.JT and Jesse attempt to flee the city to escape destiny, but things go awry, leaving JT to face the possibility that he will end up dead on the stage of the sleazy strip joint Buck Naked, just as the file predicts.If this comes out on DVD, it would definitely be worth a rental, though I hope to purchase it if it is released.