12:01 (1993) (TV)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jack Sholder

Writers (WGA):

Richard Lupoff (short story 12:01 P.M.)
Jonathan Heap (television story)

Release Date:

5 July 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Comedy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Every day at a minute past midnight the sci-fi adventure begins... again.

Plot:

Barry Thomas is the average office worker. He becomes attracted to Lisa Fredericks who works in the same company...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Time Loop | Female Nudity | Science | Experiment Gone Wrong

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jonathan Silverman	...	Barry Thomas
Helen Slater	...	Lisa Fredericks
Nicolas Surovy	...	Robert Denk
Robin Bartlett	...	Anne Jackson
Jeremy Piven	...	Howard Richter
Constance Marie	...	Joan Zevo
Glenn Morshower	...	Detective Cryers
Martin Landau	...	Dr. Thadius Moxley
Paxton Whitehead	...	Dr. Tiberius Scott
Cheryl Anderson	...	Supervisor
Giuseppe Andrews	...	Kyle (as Joey Andrews)
Frank Collison	...	Thin Assassin
Ed Crick	...	Detective
Jonathan Emerson	...	Ted Fallow
Drew Gehl	...	Night Guard

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:12 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | USA:PG-13 | UK:15

Company:

Chanticleer Films

Trivia:

When Barry checks the department directory to find Lisa's office number, three of the first four names listed are members of the film's Art Department crew: lead person Gene Bishop, on-set dresser David S. Bridson, and assistant property master Ashley Davies.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: About 27 minutes into the movie, we see a shot of a newspaper article bearing the headline "TIME BOUNCE THEORY POSSIBLE THREAT", sub-headed "Scientists Predict Experiment Could Cause Time to Repeat". The shot is clear enough that we can clearly read the main article text, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the headers or with anything happening in the movie. The article text simply consists of the following bit of text repeated over and over again: "For a new practice complete a documentary on Los Angeles dance pioneer Lester Horton, one of his former company members is searching for archival footage as well as presenting a dance performance as a fund-raising benefit. As the new times"

Quotes:

[Lisa and Barry are just meeting, and he is badly fumbling the conversation]
Lisa Fredericks: [amused] Where are you usually locked up?
Barry Thomas: Oh, I'm just an experiment gone horribly awry in the Personnel Department.
Lisa Fredericks: I see. I'm Lisa Fredericks.
Barry Thomas: I'm Barry Thomas.
Lisa Fredericks: [not sure how to take him] What is it that you do?
Barry Thomas: Oh, nothing. I just sort of boost morale in between threats of being fired.
Lisa Fredericks: Ah. Well, you seem to have a mind. That doesn't usually fit in this system. Nice to meet you.
[She turns away dismissively]

Movie Connections:

Remake of 12:01 PM (1990)

Soundtrack:

FAMILY

GroundWHAT Day???

Don't let the premise fool you into thinking this is a rehash of Bill Murray's movie - this is a GREAT little story unto itself. It's closer to Office Space & Back to the Future than to Groundhog Day.

With a well-constructed plot & engaging characters, you can ignore the obvious writing & cinematography constraints of working on a TV budget. Watch for the pearls: Jeremy Piven & Marin Landau will sneak through with their organic performances if you're not paying attention. But everyone from the office dominatrix to the wiry assassin are well-developed; I even felt like "Mom" was part of the cast! So what IS the story about? A hard-working downtrodden everyday guy with a little tardiness problem. On the day that he FINALLY works up enough nerve to talk to the office cutie that he's had a crush on for longer than his mother can stand, she gets killed. And he has to watch it happen. ...again. And if he doesn't figure out what to say & do, he'll have to keep watching it. But the key is to figure out who ELSE is watching her, and why his interest in her has caused our hero to wake up Tuesday after Tuesday after Tuesday...

12:01 is definitely worth watching again, and again, and again, and...