Director: Matt Eskandari
Writer: Doug Wolfe (Screenplay)
Starring: Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Lydia Hull, Tyler Jon Olson, Shea Buckner, Jessica Abrams
Plot: A disgraced doctor and his family are held hostage at their home by criminals on the run, when a robbery-gone-awry requires them to seek immediate medical attention.
Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Late Night Action
Story: Survive the Night starts as two criminals Mathias (Olson) and Jamie (Buckner) are looking to see out the night before heading to Mexico get involved in a shooting. They turn to disgraced doctor Rich (Murray) who has seen his career ruined, working in a small clinic, while decided what to do next, with his father Frank (Willis) trying to guide him).
The brothers break into the house, forcing Rich to perform surgery, while the family look to fight back and survive the night.
Thoughts on Survive the Night
Characters – Rich is a disgraced doctor whose mistake has put a strain on his relationship, where he is looking for a new direction in his life and after this night he will need to try and help a criminal who is threatening his family. Rich is the man with the biggest character development through the film. Frank is Rich’s father that is there to support him, but when the family is in danger he shows his stronger side. Mathias and Jamie are the criminals that are looking for medical help and will do anything to make sure they both get to travel to Mexico after to committing the crime.
Performances – Bruce Willis is on his getting better stage, when he does get to show his action side, he looks ready to go, only he doesn’t seem to have much of a character to work with. Chad Michael Murray has the most to work with, only he doesn’t seem to let his characters regret hold him back enough. Tyler Jon Olson and Shea Buckner don’t make for the best villains, as they try to bring an edge to their characters.
Story – The story here follows a couple of criminals who break into a disgraced doctors house, demanding medical attention, threatening his family, only the family looks to fight back. This is a story that we have seen before, with a family needing to fight back against a couple of criminals holding them hostage, this however doesn’t bring us the most interesting side of the events, with the family dynamic not being as strong as it could be, by having a big issue going on, only it does seem to focus more on mistakes, rather than getting into the big impact of everything. The criminal side of the story does feel borrowed from ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ with brothers who have a plan, only one is trigger happy and causes more problems for them. The story does have moments that does feel flat, with a lot just not feeling as connected as it could do, when it comes to the battle between the two sides.
Action – The action is mostly close combat, or random shooting that usually sees people missing a lot of shots.
Settings – The film keeps the action in the film in one location, the house, which away from the main roads, creating isolation from help.
Scene of the Movie – Car chase.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the characters don’t have much about them.
Final Thoughts – Flat action film that doesn’t have the spark is so desperately is trying to bring, with the attempted edgy criminals and family dynamic.
Overall: Flat Action Film.
