Review of “Midnight Special”
- Jim
- Jul 30, 2016
- 1 min read
* D
Special is not a word that should be associated with this film. Midnight is rather apt, because long swaths of footage were so dark that I could not make out a thing on screen. In addition to being dark, this film is dull. The premise: A young boy, Alton, is abducted from the Ranch, home of a religious cult who think he is their savior, by his father and a friend.
Pursued by both government spooks and cult members who want their messiah back, the three journey across the USA. Along the way, Alton’s special nature is revealed. They pick up his mom (a frumpy looking Kirsten Dunst) and take Alton to the special place that his visions have revealed, aided by and NSA analyst (Adam “Kylo” Driver). It’s the old “one good scientist” trope.
The pacing is glacial, the writing dull. Adam Driver is the only actor who’s performance stands out as anything above ordinary, but there’s not much he can do with the weak material. The film wants to inspire with some kind of deep meaning. The ending in particular tries to go for a Close Encounters style wonderfest. It comes off flatter than the equally horrible “Tomorrowland”.
How in hell this film got 6.8/10 on IMDB (***½) is beyond me. My new motto: “I watch **it for you so you don’t have to.” Consider yourselves warned!
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