ThiefHott Too much of everything

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

chaos-rampant If the premise of this little 25 minute short about a meek office worker caught in a time loop, doomed to live again and again the same one hour, sounds all too familiar, it's because it is. Harold Ramis had no moral qualms in practically lifting it wholesale and turning it into GROUNDHOG DAY three years later. But can anyone really blame him when that one is a modern classic of sorts and 12.01 is nothing more than a curio and a missed opportunity? That director Jonathan Heap's career sunk after this Oscar nominated short in a string of half-cooked, average action flicks reveals a lot of what is wrong with this one. Someone had the epiphany of the time loop idea but didn't really know what to do with it. Apart from the central premise, Ramis lifted quite a few things more: the protagonist trying to do the right thing, committing suicide in an effort to escape the loop, being angry, resigned etc. But he also wove the idea in the context of a meaningful story. 12.01 gets caught in the usual ludicrous sci-fi mumbo-jumbo trying to explain the loop, at parts it's clumsy, awkward, and shot in a very bland 80's way. It never really convinces it's anything else than a framework for a great gimmick. But it still has a great idea and you can't take that away from it. It just goes to show that the first flash of inspiration is only the tip of the iceberg.

gilbert reed This is a thirty minute film I saw years ago on Showtime. It was part of some kind of short film series hosted by Rob Reiner. This was the best of the three. It involved a man who is doomed to inhabit the same hour over and over. When we first see Myron Castleman he's standing in an intersection. He goes to the park to eat his lunch. He goes back to the office. Then Bam! He's standing in the intersection again. He tries to change things within the hour. But an hour isn't enough time; so he always ends up at that intersection. At some point he realizes that he may be able to do something. At this point everything takes on a frenzied urgency. Myron must race against the clock to find a way out. Kurtwood Smith plays Myron with so much depth and emotion. I can't imagine any one doing a better job. I'm glad I taped this; I've seen it several times. It is a haunting film; a minor classic.

FilmBear-4 I originally saw this dramatic short as an interstitial subject on TMC in the early '90s and fell instantly in love with it.The plot involves a mild-mannered businessman named Myron Castleman, played with exquisite pathos by Kurtwood Smith (That 70s Show). Myron is the only one who is aware that time keeps on bouncing back to 12:01PM after only an hour passes. Desperate to find an end to this, he seeks out a scientist who has predicted this phenomenon. Trying time and time again to contact him, Myron's worst fear is confirmed. It will never stop.Kurtwood Smith's portrayal of the temporally doomed Myron Castleman is one of the best of his career. Smith is probably better known to cinephiles as the heartless criminal Clarence Boddicker from the movie Robocop.

flipcritic A more realistic portrayal of spending an eternity in a repetitious cycle, as compared to "Groundhog Day" and other films of its kind. The thought of being in this situation is absolutely horrifying. Excellent performance by Kurtwood Smith.