Director: Stephen C Sepher
Writer: Stephen C Sepher (Screenplay)
Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Lilo Brancato, Christa B Allen, Sottie Thompson, Chris Mulkey, Bill Flynn
Plot: A pharmaceutical sales rep visits a small town in Louisiana on business. He finds himself in a dark world of corruption and murder with 24 hours to live, running from the police, the mob and a sheriff that wants him dead.
Tagline – Noir Thriller. Ensemble Cast
Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Twisted Filled Thriller
Story: Dead on Arrival starts as pharmaceutical sales rep Sam Collins (Flynn) who attending a big party hosted by a small town doctor in Louisiana to closer a deal, the morning after waking up next to a stripper Jessie (Allen), he looks to leave town only to learn that he has been infected with a poison that has left him 24-hours to live.
Teaming up with Jessie who go on the run from the people behind the poisoning, mob and the dirty cops that are trying to cover up their own mistakes.
Thoughts on Dead on Arrival
Characters – Sam Collins in a pharmaceutical sales rep, he travels across the country to support his children, he has closed a big deal and enjoyed a party. The next day he will learn that this is going to be his last day after he gets poisoned, with most of the town searching for him, he must use his charm to keep him ahead of the people that want him dead. Detective Spiro is investigating the murder of the Doctor, he is playing everything by the book and enjoys teasing his partner about his heritage. Hans Dunkel is the towns insurance broker, he will play on both sides of the law to keep his money rolling in. Jesse is the stripper that has been helping Sam learn the truth about what happened, she sees this as her ticket out of the life she is in.
Performances – Billy Flynn in the leading role is good, he shows the weakness his character is facing when it comes to dealing with the effects of the poison and shows us the realization that he might not know his killer. D.B. Sweeney is good in his role even though his character feels generic for the most part. We do have good performance from the whole cast with the hitmen coming off funny for the most part.
Story – The story follows just over a day as we are left to see just where the story will unfold, we see how one man can need to face the truth about his existence after becoming poisoned with only 24 hours to live and who is involved trying to track him down. This story does have plenty of twists and turns along the way, which both helps and hinders the story because we do deal with too many different characters at times, making it hard to keep up with at times too.
Thriller – The film does play the thriller card well, we do have the race against time idea for Sam who is trying to figure out who tried to kill him.
Settings – The Louisiana settings is nice backdrop for the movie which shows how different levels of criminals will be operating in.
Scene of the Movie – Your chance Sam.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too many characters to keep up with.
Final Thoughts – This is a thriller that does give us the options to who could be behind the poisoning of Sam, which is good, only it doesn’t hit the levels it needs to for making us understand different levels of motivation going on.
Overall: Thriller fans give this a try.
Rating
