Julian (Mike Vogel) gets a disturbing call from his best friend Terry (Danny Pino). Terry has followed his girlfriend June (Brittany Murphy) to a hotel. He has hired the room across her and her lover. Moreover, he has stolen Julian’s gun and can’t wait to go out and shoot the guy. Julian does his best to calm him down and he hardly seems to be able to convince Terry to at least to wait for him.
As the movie unfolds in a non-linear form, things get more and more complicated. Will Julian be able to prevent a frantic and pissed off Terry from doing something stupid? Or is it already too late?
The story belongs to director Alex Merkin and the screenplay was written by Jesse Mittlestadt. It is a pretty decent little thriller. While it can get a bit slow sometimes and has some flaws, the acting is good and the setting has been used effectively. Sure, character development isn’t rich, but it is not what you look for in this film. It has nice twists and turns.
It is a good example of a low budget, entertaining flick.
I think writing a thriller and making it into a film takes guts. I am serious. “Thrilling” people is hard. Trying to surprise them is even harder. You are susceptible to plot holes and plot holes tend to turn viewers off. But apparently, Alex and Jesse had the guts and ended up doing a good film.
No, it is not one of the best low-budget thrillers I have seen. Or the smartest revenge tale. But it is a fun experience most of the time. Plus, it is one of the last appearances of Britanny Murphy, whom we lost in late 2009. RIP, Brittany.
You might want to check out a tribute to her and the other celebrities we lost in 2009 (Patrick Swayze, Farah Fawcett, Natasha Richardson and more…): http://socyberty.com/people/2009-worst-year-for-celebrities/
Suggestion for another low-budget, revenge thriller: The 24th Day, starring James Marsden and Scott Speedman. In fact, it is stronger and more orginal.
https://pinartarhan.com/blog/24th-day-2004/
(24th day photo: http://forum.ciwciw.com/uploads/watcher)
(across the photo: http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5400000/Across-the-Hall-Promotional-brittany-murphy-5473007-600-888.jp)