Film:  Midnight Clear

www.jenkins-entertainment.com

Studio:  Jenkins Entertainment 

Director:  Dallas Jenkins

Principal Actors:  Stephen Baldwin, K Callan, Kirk B. R. Woller, Mary Thornton, Mitchell Jarvis, Richard Fancy, Dominic Scott Kay 

RELEASED ON DVD BY LIONSGATE ON DECEMBER 4th, 2007

Screening Date:  September 15, 2007

Kansas International Film Festival

Film length:  99 minutes

Rating:  unrated 

5 stars 

Reviewer:  Deborah Ground Buckner 

KANSAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Audience Award for Best Narrative Film

Every Christmas season, my father and I would watch It's A Wonderful Life, and I always cried when Clarence the Angel explained how each life touches so many others.  New holiday films would be released, but nothing could ever really compare to this Frank Capra classic starring James Stewart and Donna Reed; until now.   

Midnight Clear is a story of a Christmas Eve that is far from happy for five lonely, troubled people.  Lefty (Stephen Baldwin) is in the midst of a custody battle.  His meeting with his ex-wife's attorneys does not go well when he reveals he is living out of his car and has just lost his job.  Mary (Mary Thornton) and her young son, Jacob (Dominic Scott Kay), are marking a year since their husband and father, Rick, suffered brain damage in a car accident.  Rick is completely unresponsive during their Christmas Eve visit to him.  Mitch (Mitchell Jarvis), a youth minister who survived the car accident without serious injury, is coping with the anniversary as well, and reluctantly taking the youth group caroling to shut-ins.  Kirk (Kirk B. R. Woller), owner of a small gas station and convenience store, is working alone because he has nothing better to do.  Eva (K Callan), a lonely senior citizen, is preparing to end her life.   

As the day unfolds, these people cross paths in simple ways that prove to be life changing.  Not every ending is a happy one, but each life is happier because of these interactions.  As the minister (Richard Fancy) tells Mitch, “Sometimes you do the right thing because it is the right thing, and you don't know what will come of it.”  Kirk voices a similar message when he observes, “Taking care of someone who doesn't know what you're doing shows what kind of person you are.” 

The film's pacing is slow, but nicely so, allowing time to develop each character. Especially strong performances by Stephen Baldwin and K Callan make the stories of Lefty and Eva particularly moving.  Dominic Scott Kay gives a wonderful portrayal of Jacob, particularly in the scene where he visits his father without truly understanding what has happened to him. 

Screenwriter Wes Halula expanded this story from a short film made earlier by Dallas Jenkins.  Jenkins, in turn, based the short version on a story by his father, Jerry Jenkins, novelist in the Left Behind series.  In a year of festival performances, Midnight Clear has received honors for “Best Story Line” at the Boston International Film Festival and “Best First Feature” at the Cinequest San Jose Film Festival.  The film has been picked up by Lion's Gate for distribution on DVD by the 2007 holiday season. 

I recommend a holiday season double feature of It's A Wonderful Life and Midnight Clear, with a box of tissues handy.  Then go out and live, knowing your actions, whether great or small, will make a difference for many, many others.