Set in a desolate city in Washington, three young men are stuck in a rut.
Sam (Luke Mitchell) is made redundant from his dead end factory job and turns to selling weed for income whilst his pregnant girlfriend Kate (Leven Rambin) works as a waitress to try and make ends meet. Sam’s brother Mike (Jason Ritter) has a wife and baby daughter who he can barely support financially, and Sam’s best friend Owen (Zane Holtz) is released from prison after serving time for petty crime.
The trio decide to start selling harder drugs and they turn to Doug (Chris Soldevilla), a psychopathic drug lord. As circumstances pan out they have 48 hours to get $60,000 back to Doug or face severe consequences. They resort to committing a robbery intended to take 7 minutes, which doesn’t go to plan.
The story shows a contrast between the young desperate and inexperienced resorting to crime, and the older obnoxiously cool and self-assured criminals. Owen’s career criminal dad ‘Mr B’ (Kris Kristofferson) laughs at his son’s criminal ineptitude whilst tyring to be a mentor, and Mr B’s creepy buddy Tuckey (Kevin Gage) seems to hover menacingly in the background. The archetype characters are two-dimensional and harbour overused motivations, making it difficult to have any emotional attachment as the story progresses.
The story is told in a non-linear style, complete with freeze frames of characters where their name springs up onto the screen in big white letters, making it suspiciously similar to Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. An optimist would suggest that 7 Minutes is homage to the great crime/action genres, but it seems more of a play-it-safe move by Jay Martin who wrote and directed the film.
7 Minutes is Martin’s first time in the writer’s chair for a feature film, compared to his usual work as a music video director and storyboarder for major films like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and I Am Legend. This past experience is his strength as the visual elements are the stand-out for this film. Thankfully there is also a tasteful amount of blood, another visual element that contributes positively to the film.
Yes, 7 Minutes is a bundle of movie clichés compacted into 87 minutes, but is still surprisingly enjoyable. There are definitely moments where you will sit on the edge of your seat in suspense, and wont require too much thinking to keep up with the plot. Perfect for a movie night.
Reviewed by Adriana Allman
Rating out of 10: 5
7 Minutes is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on Demand.
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