This had 'Lifetime Channel' written all over it. I expected something a little more edgy. Like 'Crash'. As the movie goes along the conflicts develop, smolder, and erupt. But in the last fifteen minutes everything is happily resolved. All the uncomfortable, violent hatreds and bitter resentments dissolve. The bad old car thieves are shown to be just a pair of softies. The angry son and his alcoholic father share a tearful embrace. The three jealous friends who boffed, or were boffed, by the same guy are somewhat reconciled upon revelation of a mildly amusing bit of irony. The audience is allowed to breathe a collective 'Aaaaaahhhhh' of satisfaction. Everything turns out just as it should. In other words, like it never really turns out. I stayed with this film because of the direction, but I ended up watching a cinematic Hallmark card. No doubt this will appeal to a significant audience, but it's not the sort film that appeals to me.

I wasn't sure what to expect going in to the movie. I had watched a preview for it here on IMDb and thought that it seemed like an interesting story. Boy was I wrong! The acting in this "movie" is some of the worst I've ever witnessed in ANY movie. Another reason I had decided to rent this is because one of the other users here who had posted a review made a comment about how great the acting was. She must've been high, because this was laughable. The two hippy women were probably the worst of the bunch but the loudmouthed punk kid was right up there, too.I wouldn't recommend this movie to Helen Keller. The story is so lame that it'll have you squirming in your seat. Stuck in traffic because of downed power lines and a man who refuses to move his wrecked car? Okay, here's an idea...TURN YOUR CAR AROUND AND GO BACK THE WAY YOU CAME!!! Jeez. I wanted to scream.Watch this movie you you want but don't expect it to be any more interesting than watching paint dry.

Writer/Director Craig Serling takes a break from "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" to bring us this interesting slice of life that won him an Independent Spirit Ward, and deservedly so.While it may seem jumbles, and go back and forth, it cannot be helped given the nature of the story. After all, when you have a dozen or so people trapped on a highway waiting for help, you just have to go back and forth with their stories.And, there were some really good stories. Lilac (Gina Torres) and Rose (Mariah O'Brien) are having a baby. It will not wait, and they commandeer an RV stolen by Curt (Christopher Amitrano) and Jerry (David DeLuise) to have the baby. This was the best part of the film, as the two criminals deal with two lesbians that will not be bullied.There were several other interesting stories as three women are on the way to a wedding, a father, who is dying of cancer is trying to reunite with his son, a man is trying to get his wife to have a baby, and another father is off with his children trying to tell them he is moving. The interactions among this cast are touching and funny and thoughtful.Well worth the time.

After seeing so many mediocre movies in a row, this was definitely a breath of fresh air. To describe it I would say it's one of those off-beat films not driven by a plot but by characters. It reminded me a lot of The Breakfast Club in more ways than one.As far as the actors, all of them were great and their characters were well defined and easy to relate to. In Fact, another movie to compare this to might be Glengary Glen Ross. It's not the story but the cast that make these films fun to watch. Jam had a great cast.While I just compared Jam to two classics, I wouldn't necessarily rank it in that category, but I do think it certainly deserves better than it's current IMDb ranking of 5.3. I give it an 8.