The stage curtains open ...

"Past Midnight" had all the earmarks of being a worthy entry in its genre, a sleeper, a hidden gem. However, despite Natasha Richardson's undeniable onscreen charm, and some pretty good cinematography, this thriller came off as a lost opportunity.

Richardson plays the part of a social services worker, Laura Matthews, who is assigned the task of helping a parolee, Ben Jordan (Rutger Hauer),find employment upon being released from prison. Jordan was tried and convicted for the murder of his pregnant wife, yet after meeting with Ben, Laura is not entirely convinced that he did it. Despite warnings from her well-meaning co-worker and ex-lover, Laura takes it upon herself to investigate the events of that night which eventually leads to the revelation of the truth behind a man who she is beginning to fall in love with.

The movie actually started out really good. The characters were strong, the acting fairly decent, and, as I mentioned before, the cinematography was spot on. They even threw in a joke to get you smiling, no doubt the influence of Quentin Tarantino. But, about halfway through, the movie starts to lose itself. The screenplay was pretty weak, which surprises me, since Tarantino had a hand in it. The love scene between Richardson and Hauer had no chemistry, and in fact, it seemed like they were only doing that scene because they had to. I didn't buy any of the dynamics between them. And the story and final reveal was pretty absurd by movie's end.

I cannot recommend this one. I saw it late night, and as something to do when there is nothing else to do, it will fill the void. However, you would be better served watching an old favorite than taking a chance on this lost dud. It is easy to see why it wasn't a hit back in the day. 3 stars out of 10.

By odd coincidence we watched "Past Midnight" right after "Twilight". Both films have much in common. In 2009's Twilight, Kristen Stewart seeks romance with vampire-nice-guy, and in this one Natasha Richardson seeks love with convicted-and-released murderer Rutger Hauer. Both movies were made by female film-makers, and each was filmed in rural Washington state. Either film will tell you what girls and women dream about: Prince Charming, NOT; rather a bad guy who they can make-over.

Past Midnight is the better movie. Hauer may or may not be an innocent man framed; but Natasha falls for him well before she has any clue he might not have stabbed his pregnant wife in the gut with a butcher knife. More I need not tell you except Hauer comes across as a real man, whether guilty or not he's to be reckoned with --- unlike the sissy style "vampire veg" guys in Twilight. Past Midnight delivers a good 90 minutes of entertainment.

If a film looks like a B movie and smells like a B movie then in my opinion it usually is a B movie but this film while definitely not an A movie it isn't far off being one. Ben Jordan(Rutger Hauer) is found guilty of stabbing his pregnant wife and spends 15 years in jail. The film begins when he is released from jail ,moves to a small town to start again and is assigned a social worker Laura Matthews (Natsha Richardson).the two form an unlikely friendship and become lovers.While everyone,including the towns chief of police, think he was guilty,Laura has her doubts and after a spot of investigation comes to the conclusion that he is actually innocent. Now we have probably sen this done before and no doubt better but the chemistry of the two main stars carries the film along nicely and the final scenes of the film are very gripping,almost edge of the seat stuff. After the "The hitcher" and "Blade runner" i would have liked Rutger Hauer to have been a bigger star in Hollywood but his career like that of Lou Diamond Philips,another actor I think should be a bigger star,seems to have been relegated to straight to video movies.. Natasha Richardson is a very pretty English actress that hasn't really been a movie trailblazer but she handles her role,including a quite steamy sex scene,very well and as I said her on screen chemistry with Rutger Hauer carries the film along nicely. Don't watch this film and expect any Oscar winning performances but if you want a neat compact thriller then with this film you can't go far wrong.

Past Midnight i give a very commendable 8/10