11:14

Jack (Henry Thomas, DEAD BIRDS) drives down a lonely highway, chatting away to a lady friend on his mobile phone. He says he'll meet up with her soon, then confesses to having had a drink when she notices his slurring. The time on the dashboard clock is 11:14.

Their banter is cut short when a large object falls onto Jack's windscreen, forcing him off the road. A road sign warns of stray deer in the area, but upon closer inspection Jack is horrified to discover that what fell onto his car is actually a man. A man whose head has been stoved in.

He manages to drag the corpse out of view just before good citizen Norma (Barbara Hershey, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST) pulls up to offer help. Against Jack's wishes, she calls the police for assistance. Then leaves, leaving Jack shitting bricks.

As the small-town cop arrives to aide Jack, the hapless driver just manages to hide the corpse in the boot of his car. A sobriety test goes well for him, but the cop arrests him after discovering his licence has been provoked - and checking the boot!

Jack is bundled into the back of the cop's car, where Duffy (Shawn Hatosy, FACTORY GIRL) and Buzzy (Hilary Swank, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) already sit in cuffs. The cop bungles the arrest, and all three of them flee into the night - the cop giving chase to Jack.

He catches up with him when they reach Norma's back garden, where they both run into a distraught Norma. She's just been given the news that her daughter's been killed in a hit-and-run accident.

The above is the first in a sequence of events that all involve (some directly, others not so) a small group of seemingly unrelated characters either passing through or living in the small town of Middleton.

As time rewinds back to 11:14, we see events from different perspectives as each character's story is presented. At various points we'll discover the identity of the man thrown against Jack's car, and find out what connection Jack has to another major character in the story.

Along the way, three pranksters drive their van through Middleton's quiet streets looking for fun. When an accident occurs, one loses his penis.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Duffy tries to persuade friend Buzzy to let him rob the grocery store they both work in, to fund his girlfriend's abortion.

Not so far away, Frank (Patrick Swayze, DONNIE DARKO) gets all protective and tries to hide a corpse that he suspects the gorgeous Cheri (Rachel Leigh Cook, ANTITRUST) has killed.

What's clever about 11:14, apart from that it tells a simple story from multiple angles without ever feeling overly showy or contrived, is that it keeps delivering something new along the way. Characters that start off innocent and sympathetic wind up being anything but, while the "hero" of the piece is arguably the person you initially least expected. Nothing is quite as it seems.

The storytelling is definitely the film's strongpoint. It's non-linear plot is welded tightly together with expert editing and assured direction from Greg Marcks (LECTOR). It moves along quickly, and rather than that resulting in a confused mess, it develops into a satisfyingly tense and frequently surprising black comedy.

A stellar cast deliver strong performances throughout. Thomas and Swayze continue to impress with more mature roles than those that made them famous. But top honour must go to Cook as Cheri. Sexy, deadly and childlike in equal measures - great stuff.

Visually, the film is well lit and often (for a movie set exclusively at night) very colourful. There are no great visual flourishes, and the flashy post-Tarantino gimmicks are thankfully kept to a bare minimum.

Despite possessing an ending that fails to resolve the fates of several characters, 11:14 is a pleasant surprise. A movie that's been released with virtually no fanfare that genuinely warrants a look. Tough to pigeonhole too, which is always a good thing.

The disc is very basic. The film is presented in an anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer, which is very good indeed. Full of strong sharp images and well-balanced colours, it's a relief the blacks hold up well with minimal grain.

The English 2.0 audio does a solid, no-frills job. Optional English subtitles are available for the hard of hearing.

Animated menus include scene selection pages allowing access to the main feature via 16 chapters.

The only extra is a 2-minute trailer that looks good but doesn't do the movie justice. It makes it look more Tarantino that it is (sure, there's some expletive-heavy wisecracking that's reminiscent of PULP FICTION at times, but this is an altogether more intelligent beast than the scores of rip-offs we've endured over the last decade).

A fun way to spend 89 minutes. Recommended as a rental. If you're going to buy, you may want to look for the R1 release - complete with 5.1 audio, director's commentary and a featurette.

Review by Stu Willis