I watched this last night since there was absolutely nothing else of interest on. While I made it thru the whole movie, I was bored.A man (Rutger Hauer) spends 15 years in prison for the murder of his wife and then is released and meets up with his social worker (Natasha Richardson) so that she can find him a job.They fall in love and she spends a lot of time trying to find out the details of the murder that he was accused of and for the next half-hour it's a matter of is he or isn't he guilty. The movie takes place in Washington state so it rains. A lot. I guess that's supposed to add to the suspense but all it did for me was make me feel cold and damp. The ending came out of nowhere and the viewer is left wondering why nobody in the last 15 years, not the people living in the town, not the man's lawyer, and especially not the police, ever knew anything about any of it.If you're desperate for something to watch and find a copy of this film in the bargain bin at WalMart you can give it a try, but don't go out of your way to get it.

By odd coincidence we watched "Past Midnight" right after "Twilight". Both films have much in common. In 2009's Twilight, Kristen Stewart seeks romance with vampire-nice-guy, and in this one Natasha Richardson seeks love with convicted-and-released murderer Rutger Hauer. Both movies were made by female film-makers, and each was filmed in rural Washington state. Either film will tell you what girls and women dream about: Prince Charming, NOT; rather a bad guy who they can make-over.Past Midnight is the better movie. Hauer may or may not be an innocent man framed; but Natasha falls for him well before she has any clue he might not have stabbed his pregnant wife in the gut with a butcher knife. More I need not tell you except Hauer comes across as a real man, whether guilty or not he's to be reckoned with --- unlike the sissy style "vampire veg" guys in Twilight. Past Midnight delivers a good 90 minutes of entertainment.

If a film looks like a B movie and smells like a B movie then in my opinion it usually is a B movie but this film while definitely not an A movie it isn't far off being one. Ben Jordan(Rutger Hauer) is found guilty of stabbing his pregnant wife and spends 15 years in jail. The film begins when he is released from jail ,moves to a small town to start again and is assigned a social worker Laura Matthews (Natsha Richardson).the two form an unlikely friendship and become lovers.While everyone,including the towns chief of police, think he was guilty,Laura has her doubts and after a spot of investigation comes to the conclusion that he is actually innocent. Now we have probably sen this done before and no doubt better but the chemistry of the two main stars carries the film along nicely and the final scenes of the film are very gripping,almost edge of the seat stuff. After the "The hitcher" and "Blade runner" i would have liked Rutger Hauer to have been a bigger star in Hollywood but his career like that of Lou Diamond Philips,another actor I think should be a bigger star,seems to have been relegated to straight to video movies.. Natasha Richardson is a very pretty English actress that hasn't really been a movie trailblazer but she handles her role,including a quite steamy sex scene,very well and as I said her on screen chemistry with Rutger Hauer carries the film along nicely. Don't watch this film and expect any Oscar winning performances but if you want a neat compact thriller then with this film you can't go far wrong.Past Midnight i give a very commendable 8/10

Whilst this film is not going to re-invent the Suspense/Thriller genre it views as one that could have been an A movie with a little more money and a bit of promotion. Certainly not with a change of cast. The twists, the developing romantic theme, all make this worth your viewing time. Rutger Hauer has his own unique brand of acting and Natasha Richardson can not only act but is rather cute.