Explores the tangled relationship between a troubled private investigator and the missing woman he's hired to help find.Explores the tangled relationship between a troubled private investigator and the missing woman he's hired to help find.Explores the tangled relationship between a troubled private investigator and the missing woman he's hired to help find.
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I really like Film Noir and "Too Late" tries to be one but falls short. I appreciate indie films because they avoid the usual Hollywood mainstream stuff and I cut them a lot of slack, but this picture doesn't help you out. It is disjointed and not well written but I think director Dennis Hauck is on to something.
This effort, however, tends to lose the viewer with time frame juxtaposition which is too clever by half. I had to work at it to sort out the sequence of events and I think I nearly caught up by the end of the picture. Add to this the scenario which often lapses into the surreal and some overwritten dialogue (Dashiel Hammett is safe), and the cake falls.
John Hawkes was good as the detective but has an emaciated look. He is a stretch to be a hard-boiled 'noir' hero, which is a minor objection, but I hope Hauck perseveres and refines his ideas. There is a need to counteract the current trend toward the populist dreck that shows up in the multiplexes nowadays.
This effort, however, tends to lose the viewer with time frame juxtaposition which is too clever by half. I had to work at it to sort out the sequence of events and I think I nearly caught up by the end of the picture. Add to this the scenario which often lapses into the surreal and some overwritten dialogue (Dashiel Hammett is safe), and the cake falls.
John Hawkes was good as the detective but has an emaciated look. He is a stretch to be a hard-boiled 'noir' hero, which is a minor objection, but I hope Hauck perseveres and refines his ideas. There is a need to counteract the current trend toward the populist dreck that shows up in the multiplexes nowadays.
Too Late is halfway decent noir story anchored by a more than decent lead, but it lets itself get swallowed by its gimmicks. The movie is presented as a series of five twenty-odd minute one-take shots, with mixed results. The opening segment has some neat tricks behind it, including getting star John Hawkes from one end of town to another while maintaining action at a fixed point, and the reveals in the last are effective. But not all of the actors are up to the task, and the reliance on the one-take structure don't do them any favours; many of the scenes in the second section, in particular, have a student-play vibe to them, despite the presence of known names like Robert Forster and Jeff Fahey (Dichen Lachman, however, acquits herself well as a twist on the no-nonsense stripper trope). The nonlinear structure also feels like an afterthought to add some unnecessary extra novelty. The sidebars the movie somehow finds time for don't always work, such as a pair of minor drug dealers with no real purpose other than to pad out the takes and the film's annoying insistence on using film itself as a source of dialogue far too often. If it lost its gimmicks and shed a bit of fat, Too Late has the bones of a good gumshoe flick, albeit one a bit too reliant on stuffing women in refrigerators.
This movie is shown as five episodes out of sequence, with a stunning twist at the end. Its style is an homage to the old fashioned crime noir genre, and while tiresome in spots, is well done overall. The characters and action seen at the beginning can give the impression that this is a marginal, unimportant piece, but it is really a work of art that must be seen from beginning to end.
If anything, this shows that a well-directed, well-scripted movie can even use low-life characters who are grade-school dropouts, who go through life pretending their inconsequential lives have meaning and importance, to produce a good film. The script elevates the usual stereotypes and trite conversation above the morass of every-day life, although some moments admittedly last too long.
Unless you see the film from beginning to end, even through the long annoying parts, you will not be able to fully appreciate how beautifully crafted this movie really is.
If anything, this shows that a well-directed, well-scripted movie can even use low-life characters who are grade-school dropouts, who go through life pretending their inconsequential lives have meaning and importance, to produce a good film. The script elevates the usual stereotypes and trite conversation above the morass of every-day life, although some moments admittedly last too long.
Unless you see the film from beginning to end, even through the long annoying parts, you will not be able to fully appreciate how beautifully crafted this movie really is.
Wow,I really enjoyed this movie!! How has this gone virtually unnoticed? The dialogue is great and funny. So much style! Long takes make for real world feal. Crazy gritty flawed characters. Plenty of shocking twists. Soundtrack is very good and adds meaning to the scenes. This is the best movie i have seen in quite a while.
Once of best films in recent years. Sensitive. Great acting of John Hawkes.
Did you know
- TriviaEach of the long takes was shot on an entire 1000-foot reel of 35mm film.
- Crazy creditsNo hidden cuts were used in the making of this motion picture.
- ConnectionsFeatures Carnival of Souls (1962)
- SoundtracksI'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Written by Hank Williams
Performed by Del Shannon
Published by Acuff Rose Music (BMI)
Administered by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)
Courtesy of Mole Hole Records
By arrangement with the Estate of Del Shannon
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $60,438
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $7,000
- Mar 20, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $60,438
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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