I skimmed what others on the IMDB database had to say but I must just have not understood the film. A friend and I were what we thought to be 15 minutes or so late, so stayed to watch the beginning of the next showing, but it turned out we had only missed about 5 minutes. We had hoped, in vain as it turns out, that we would learn some context as to why/how the world was about to predictably end, cleanly right at midnight one day. When we left shortly after we got caught up, it was a relief for me to leave behind this depressing and unbelievable film, literally a welcome breath of fresh air.
The plot is simple - for some unknown reason, the whole world (or at least all humans) will come to an end at midnight, and if you listen carefully for just a few offhand and quick lines in dialogue, you will also note that this has been known for a few months and that night hasn't fallen in some time (how could this be? Has the earth suddenly stopped rotating? Would India be in total darkness if Canada is in total light? Is the Western Hemisphere coming to an end?? Have people really given up? Who knows.). What would you do if you knew for a fact that the world were about to end? And had a few months to prepare for it?
You have to abandon your credulity even further, as the characters portrayed are largely 2-dimensional and whose motives and actions make little sense. Some may choose quite contemplation (a few of the characters pray), some may go mad (as one mother seems to have), some may review their lives (as a family does), but is human character so evil and interested in senseless entropy as to engage in pointless violence and property damage, crass behavior, and the like? I would think not - I would think that such a calamity would tend to make people introspective and to commiserate and hang together as a global community.
Philosophical perspective aside, the characterization had no depth. The camera techniques were mildly interesting, often involving shooting into hazy light, but the camera was not kind to the characters, making most of them look unflattering. How could this have been called a comedic drama? It was depressing through-and-through and the drama was very weak, with there being no attempt portrayed to understand/overcome the demise - instead all is just a rather ineffective depiction of individual reactions to the impending doom.
Rating: 3 out of 10, though I'm wondering why I rated it so high - maybe because of some of the great songs from the 1970s (for example, I was delighted to hear "Jimmy Loves Maryanne" by Looking Glass of "Brandy" fame - I didn't know anybody knew this other song of theirs!)
The plot is simple - for some unknown reason, the whole world (or at least all humans) will come to an end at midnight, and if you listen carefully for just a few offhand and quick lines in dialogue, you will also note that this has been known for a few months and that night hasn't fallen in some time (how could this be? Has the earth suddenly stopped rotating? Would India be in total darkness if Canada is in total light? Is the Western Hemisphere coming to an end?? Have people really given up? Who knows.). What would you do if you knew for a fact that the world were about to end? And had a few months to prepare for it?
You have to abandon your credulity even further, as the characters portrayed are largely 2-dimensional and whose motives and actions make little sense. Some may choose quite contemplation (a few of the characters pray), some may go mad (as one mother seems to have), some may review their lives (as a family does), but is human character so evil and interested in senseless entropy as to engage in pointless violence and property damage, crass behavior, and the like? I would think not - I would think that such a calamity would tend to make people introspective and to commiserate and hang together as a global community.
Philosophical perspective aside, the characterization had no depth. The camera techniques were mildly interesting, often involving shooting into hazy light, but the camera was not kind to the characters, making most of them look unflattering. How could this have been called a comedic drama? It was depressing through-and-through and the drama was very weak, with there being no attempt portrayed to understand/overcome the demise - instead all is just a rather ineffective depiction of individual reactions to the impending doom.
Rating: 3 out of 10, though I'm wondering why I rated it so high - maybe because of some of the great songs from the 1970s (for example, I was delighted to hear "Jimmy Loves Maryanne" by Looking Glass of "Brandy" fame - I didn't know anybody knew this other song of theirs!)