Filmmakers seem eager to work with Robert Nolan – I don’t blame them.  Nolan is, undoubtably, one of the best character actors working in the industry.  He’s respected because of his ability to morph into a role, and because of how professional he is.  I’ve seen him play an embarrassing parent, an insane clown, a teacher on the brink of destruction, and I’ve even seen him pull disgusting “things” out of his body.  He can do it all.

Sixty Minutes to Midnight plays like a dream project for director Neil Mackay as he joins the ranks of other genre directors who have thrown Nolan an interesting premise.  Nolan plays Jack Darcy, a former soldier-turn-rough-around-the-edges construction worker who is axiously awaiting Y2K before the world enters the new millenium.  The stakes are raised when a game show is imposed on him, following his every move as he fights off a flurry of armed assassins.  If he survives an hour, he wins $1,000,000.

Unfortunately, Sixty Minutes to Midnight doesn’t do much more than give Nolan a standard survival story and automatic weapons.  The audience will be yearning for a meatier story as they wonder if the guns have more dialogue than the actors.  With Sixty Minutes to Midnight, Mackay is wanting to make Robert Nolan into an unyielding hero – think Charles Bronson or Chuck Norris.  The film could very well be an homage to those action-packed, pulpy pleasures.  But Sixty Minites to Midnight not only squanders Nolan’s range with a barebones role, it numbs the audience by offering an excess of shoot ’em ups that all look alike.

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Sixty Minutes to Midnight screens at Toronto After Dark on Thursday, October 12 at 9:45 pm at Scotiabank Theatre.

For more information on the festival, visit the official Toronto After Dark website.

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