Midnight Special

Midnight Special

Starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver

Directed by Jeff Nicols

The Story:
Young Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) is an eight-year-old kid with a terrific power, something so amazing that a cult - led by Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard) - wants him.  After being raised with the cult, Alton's real father Roy (Michael Shannon) abducts him, with the assistance of Roy's friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton).  The three of them hit the road for coordinates Alton prophesied where a great event would take place.  The cult and the FBI, led by Agent Paul Sevier (Adam Driver), are also after the trio, who pick up Alton's mother Sarah (Kirsten Dunst) along the way.

As they travel to the unknown destination, Roy becomes increasingly overprotective of Alton, while Sarah begins to understand that this journey might mean loosing Alton forever, and tries to convince Roy of that as well.  Still, even they don't understand the full power Alton has, or where he even came from.

The Synopsis:
Jeff Nicols is an intriguing director, one who thinks outside the box and delivers some truly amazing original material ("Mud" and "Take Shelter" are two of his most famous, as well as the upcoming "Loving," which is already generating Oscar buzz), and much like Johnny Depp is Tim Burton's muse, Michael Shannon has appeared in every Jeff Nicols movie, including "Midnight Special."  While it's a tale that hearkens back to the likes of "E.T.," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Race to Witch Mountain," and "Tomorrowland," this film seemed to loose the whimsy and wonder the previous films included, resulting in a rather boring chase film.

The movie picks up right away with Alton, Roy and Lucas already on the run, with both the government and the cult after them.  The film seems like the end of a trilogy, with very little character introduction or development, and that's the main issue I had with this movie.  With the likes of Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, Golden Globe winner Kirsten Dunst, and hot up-and-coming actors Joel Edgerton and Adam Driver, you'd expect more with their characters.  Yet, there's nary a voice influx or emotional moment to be had.  Each performance was surprisingly wooden and uninspiring for such an epic tale as this.  Newcomer Jaden Lieberher does fine as Alton, but even he isn't given much to work with.

The film relies heavily on the mystery behind Alton's powers.  He can project a bright blue essence from his eyes - much like Cyclops from X-Men but without, you know, the death - that shows people different things that aren't really explained.  Oh, and he can also bring down a satellite from space somehow.  That was an amazing scene with debris falling from the sky, but it made little sense how he was able to do that.  Anyway, along with his great powers comes great limitations, as he can't be out during the day, and he seems to be getting sicker by the moment, much like Spielberg's E.T.  When we finally get around to the full potential of his power...it's a rather big letdown.  Think of the concept of multiple worlds co-existing in the same space at the same time, and you've scratched the surface of the point of the film, which honestly is very hard to find.  The cult side story never goes anywhere, and they become rather inept at their job of finding the boy.  The FBI is...well...typical FBI in a film like this.  

Ultimately, there seems to be an underlying theme to the film about parenting an ill child and the prospects of having to lose your child due to that illness.  Alton gets sicker, and talks about going to a new place, while his parents have to deal with the prospects of letting go when they don't really want to.  This would've been expressed so much better if Shannon and Dunst gave stronger performances, but since their characters were so one-note it lost much of the emotional punch.  

The Summary:
Even though it gives glimpses of genius, "Midnight Special" turns out to be anything but special, due to wooden performances, a drawn-out mystery and unemotional ending.

The Score: B-