Name of movie: The 24th Day (Amazon UK Link)
Date: 2004
Length (hrs): 1h 32 mins
Film genre: Thriller
Characters: Tom (Speedman) and Dan (James Marsden)
Director: Tony Piccirillo
Setting: Los Angeles
Plot information: The 24th Day is a low budget, but excellently acted psychological thriller, well written as a story.. The story is mainly set in an apartment, in an almost abandoned apartment block, with a few intersperses when Marsden goes out.
The central story of the movie, is that of someone who discovers he is suffering from HIV/AIDS, and who sets out to find the person who infected him. He is married, and apart from ‘one’ gay sexual act has been faithful to his wife.
Can you briefly describe them; do they resemble characters from book or play if there was one?
The characters from The 24th Day, have been developed out of a play in Los Angeles starring Noah Wylie (of ‘ER’ and ‘The Librarian’ fame) and Peter Berg. The script is entertaining, and there are subtle parts which require you watch and listen carefully, or you will miss them – and this would be a pity.
What makes the movie interesting? I found the movie to be somewhat tiresome. I have seen similar movies in the ‘straight’ cinema, and this slow build up, to what is supposed to be a climatic ending just doesn’t work for me.
Does the movie surprise the audience? The 24th Day may be a surprise to some of the audience, but for myself, I soldiered through to what was a predictable ending.
How do you feel when the movie ended? Let down, as |I felt more could have been done with the story. Both actors applied themselves excellently, and achieved more that could have been expected from what I felt was a rather mundane story and script.
Who will like this move? Probably people who follow either of the two actors will follow the story, but it is unlikely to do much else.
On a scale of 1 (don’t like) – 5 (like), how do you rate this movie? I would rate it as a low 3