11:14 Terrible Events but a Good Time
"11:14" is the sort of darkly funny movie which makes me wonder what the movers and shakers in Hollywood are thinking. The reason being is that "11:14" is a brilliant movie, totally absurd, convoluted beyond the point of reasoning yet it's completely entertaining, but it never got a big cinema release and pretty much went un-noticed when it came out on DVD. It frustrates me that something so amusing, so clever, so entertaining can be released without a big fanfare when special effects driven nonsense get the big publicity. It's not as if "11:14" doesn't have any stars, there's Patrick Swayze, Hilary Swank, Barbara Hershey, Ben Foster, Colin Hanks, Henry Thomas and most people will recognize Shawn Hatosy as well. To put it simply "11:14" is totally absurd, completely convoluted but will keep you glued to every twist and turn as it entertains by being so darkly funny.
To try and explain, to give a synopsis of what happens in "11:14" is not that straight forward. We first witness a car accident under a bridge and the story unfolds as we watch the driver try to cover what happens. Next we witness another car accident and an injured passenger which somehow links itself to that first accident. And what follows is a further 3 different stories which all interlink and help explain each other as to why the time 11:14 is so important. To go into any major detail as to what happens in each of these stories other than there are car accidents, shootings, body parts being chopped off and accidental death during sex would possibly ruin not only any number of twists but also some of the funnier moments.
So to put it basically we get 5 different events which are all interlinked and explain each other as the clock hits 11:14. It is without a doubt convoluted and seriously twisted as we learn a little bit more, becoming increasingly outrageous in how one event leads to another but it's also funny as hell by being so absurd. You can't but help smile when something you watch in the first series of scenes suddenly crops up in a different story providing part of a link but also providing an individual story such as the woman who stops in the car to offer assistant in the first storyline. And what makes this all so much fun is that as you learn a bit more it also leaves you with questions and so you are trying to piece together how Cherie and a bowling ball has anything to do with Jack and his car crash, or how Eddie and his accident with a sliding glass window ties in to another part of the movie.
And in between all this convoluted storyline is a lot of dark humour, a serious amount of dark humour which starts with Jack trying to cover his tracks by stuffing a dead body in the boot of his car and flows through every single story. It feels wrong to be laughing when in one scene part of a body gets chopped off, or in another a dog licks the face of a dead body but you can't help yourself. Every single moment of dark comedy works and you but can't help laugh at how crazy and absurd what you are watching becomes.
Plus on top of this "11:14" has a pretty decent cast and thankfully none of them put in a bad performance. From Patrick Swayze as a protective father through Hilary Swank, Colin Hanks, Ben Foster and Henry Thomas they all deliver entertaining performances. Even when the dialogue shows up as being a bit weak they still manage to make it work.
What this all boils down to is that "11:14" is a darkly funny movie which gets more and more absurd but at the same time draws you into the twisting turning thriller. You just can't help but laugh at the dark often surreal comedy and not a single performance is off key with the nature of this absurd thriller. It's just a shame that something so genuinely entertaining and amusing ended up being released with not a fanfare as it is so fresh and wickedly funny compared to so many other movies.
