VOD film review: 7 Minutes
Review Overview
Style
7Substance
2David Farnor | On 14, Oct 2015
Director: Jay Martin
Cast: Luke Mitchell, Jason Ritter, Zane Hotlz
Certificate: 15
Watch 7 Minutes online in the UK: Apple TV (iTunes) / Prime Video (Buy/Rent) / TalkTalk TV / Sony / Xbox / BT / Google Play/ Sky Store
Every now and then, an indie film comes along that looks rough on the surface but turns out to be something special underneath. 7 Minutes is the opposite.
The film follows Sam, Mike and Owen, three friends who find themselves on the wrong side of a drug dealer. With cash to stump up and not enough time to do it, they come up with a plan: rob the bank owned by Mike and Sam’s uncle. After all, as the name suggests, it should only take 7 Minutes.
Director Jay Martin uses the titular timeframe as the film’s driving force, never letting us stay in one place for too long. Chopping back and forth between events, he assembles the story with pizazz to spare: characters are introduced with freeze-frames mid-action, accompanied by their name writ large on the screen. It’s the kind of Tarantino-esque, post-Guy Ritchie schtick that might seem tired, but also requires talent to pull off successfully.
It’s a shame, then, that despite the excellent story-telling skill on display, the story itself isn’t that engaging. The cast perform their roles well enough, but there’s little to be had in the way of sympathy or substance; a slight tendency towards cheesy dialogue doesn’t help endear the ensemble to us. “The American Dream? That ship’s sailed. What you see is what you get,” says one in a particularly unsubtle speech.
Ritter, Holtz and Mitchell handle the action well, though, with the latter demonstrating why he was bumped from guest star in Marvel’s TV show, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to regular star. But this feels like a calling card more than anything else. Martin announces himself on the scene with style – you just wish there was more beneath the surface.