What an incredible joyride of a movie. Approaching Midnight is what good indie films are all about and I was interested in the fact that it was shot in Detroit, a city that has seen a lot of Hollywood productions in the past 10 years and Approaching Midnight takes a very crafting and mesmerizing chance at the locations that the city has to offer on film, In the opening war sequence, I was simply awed at how they pulled this off in the city. To my amazement the same location was used a few years later in Batman v Superman" in the Bruce Wayne dream sequence ... Coincidentally actor Sam Logan Khaleghi also makes a cameo in the superhero franchise. Granted Jana Kramer was in the film for about half the running time as the movie is about solving her disappearance did very well. Her appearance in the movie is similar to The Hangover's Justin Bartha, where he appears at the beginning of the film, the middle a little bit and then at the end.

I am a big fan of Director Sam Logan Khaleghi in his music video work, and found historically that a lot of wonderful directors of movies come from that field. Ridley Scott, Michael Bay and Spoke Jonze for example. The guy is an Emmy nominee and an award winner. This movie actually won Best Picture at several film festivals and I can see why. His work in the both the pop music and country music video world has always struck a chord of beautiful cinematography along with great editing work and good on camera talent. "Approaching Midnight" meets the same level of wonderful storytelling quality considering that it was his first feature length film and made on a low budget. I missed this movie when it was in the theater by my house but I did get a chance to purchase the DVD online at Amazon and found that the special features as many have praised was well worth the purchase. I am a big fan of of the collaborative nature between the actors and characters especially with Mia Serafino and Sam Logan Khaleghi. The character play between them especially in the car scene in the middle of the film is structured like a stage play with twists and turns and kept me at the edge of my seat. I missed it in the first round go, but seeing Sam in the credits of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" above Aquaman made me rewind and watch that movie again, he makes a cool cameo.

I saw this film at Emagine Theatres the first time, and the second time at the AMC cinema on the west coast. Just bought my DVD with special features and I seriously loved this film. I am a huge fan of NBC's Crowded, so I wanted to see what Mia Serafino starred in before this. Sam Logan Khaleghi (Batman V Superman) and Mia Serafino (Crowded) are the lightning of excellent acting in this film. Stoic, accentuated and pinpointed. A brilliant process of what happens when actors taught in English conservatories are in American films. Approaching Midnight is about an Army veteran Wesley Kent who returns to his small town home to fight the threat of political corruption in the form of Mayor Malverne, who is the father of Aspen Malverne (Jana Kramer) who happens to be Wesley Kent's girlfriend. Lots of drama here and great unfolding of events lead to an overall great move that touches on modern day small town politics beside a grand international chain of events. Jana Kramer (Teen Choice Award winner and Platinum recording artist) is currently on tour with her latest country music album so catching her in this film is your best bet at seeing her return to acting.

I know the writer/producer/director's friends and co workers think they are helping him out by posting glowing reviews of his work. They are not. The first clue you should note is when words like "brilliant," "impressive," amazing," and my favorite "almost perfect," are in the summery titles. That kind of hyperbolic praise is a sure sign that they probably aren't as objective as they should be. However the real damage comes when someone like me, unconnected with the production, watches the movie and then looks on IMDb to see what others think about it. Normally someone like me would not bother to review it. But seeing these reviews that claim it is a "brilliant" and "almost perfect" movie force me to set the record straight. It is not brilliant nor is it amazing, or even good for that matter. It is really bad. As one reviewer put it, it is painful to watch. The story is weak, the dialog is corny, and the editing is horrendous. These reviewers who give it such over the praise are really hurting the director by not being honest, and they are inadvertently forcing people like me to put down far more objective and truthful reviews.