'Blu-ray or Bust'
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016, PG-13, 112 minutes, TRI-STATE
PICTURES)
This quietly effective science fiction tale starts off by
throwing you right into the mix of things. We see, on a hotel television, a
local television newscaster reading an Amber Alert. Then we see the focus of
the alert in the hotel room, with his accused abductor: his father.
What happens from there is a story that doesn’t leave you
guessing much. It unfolds not in flashbacks, but through the investigation of
the FBI, and information provided by the innocents involved. It seems the boy
was rescued from a local cult by his father, a cult that worshiped the boy and
his abilities. It seems that young Alton (Jaedon Lieberher, ST VINCENT) has the
tendency to shoot blinding light out of his eyes; what this light does, and
what it means to Alton, and those in his life, is just part of the mystery.
His dad Roy (Michael Shannon, who shines in every dramatic
role he plays) has joined forces with an old high school friend (the intense
Joel Edgerton, from WARRIOR and ZERO DARK THIRTY) to get Alton to a certain
place at a certain time where something is supposed to happen. The cult
believes it is the end of days, and everyone else…well, no one really knows.
But that isn’t the whole point of the story, either. The cast is rounded out by
Adam Driver, doing a wonderfully curious and serious Jeff Goldblum-style
character, and a nearly unrecognizable and totally un-annoying Kirsten Dunst as
Alton’s estranged mommy.
The effects, when they are necessary, are spectacularly
subtle. You can see writer/director’s Jeff Nichols’ (MUD, TAKE SHELTER) love of
80’s sci-fi; there are nods to STARMAN, E.T., and THE EXPLORERS, just to name a
few. But it is the characters which drive this film, and the physicality of how
they communicate. It is one of the few films in which you never hear a parent
say that they love their child, but the cast is more than capable in being able
to convey that love not just through their actions, but with the intensity of
their looks. The way they talk with one another, the heart-wrenching
expressions on their faces…they don’t need to vocalize it, because they (and
the viewer) already know.
The special features don’t offer much by way of the
filmmaking process; you get breakdowns of all the characters, and a short doc
on what Jeff Nichols was trying to—and did—do. It is not quite enough to get
excited about (I’m speaking to the inner geek, here…), but at least lets you
appreciate the efforts of the storytellers themselves a bit more. Of course,
the film is entirely necessary on Blu-ray. For the tone of the film, and to
appreciate the grand scope of Adam Stone’s (part of Nichols’s crew, as they
have worked together on almost every occasion) wonderful camera work, you have
to see this in as rich a format as possible.
It is a pleasure to see some of the more subtle sci-films
that have been produced over the last few years. MIDNIGHT, in particular, is a
wonderful example of how you can tell an effective story without having to blow
up national monuments, or have ginormous alien ships invading the planet.
Hollywood should take note.
Film Grade: A
Special Features: B-
Blu-ray Necessary: Most definitely
-- T.S. Kummelman
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