By odd coincidence we watched "Past Midnight" right after "Twilight". Both films have much in common. In 2009's Twilight, Kristen Stewart seeks romance with vampire-nice-guy, and in this one Natasha Richardson seeks love with convicted-and-released murderer Rutger Hauer. Both movies were made by female film-makers, and each was filmed in rural Washington state. Either film will tell you what girls and women dream about: Prince Charming, NOT; rather a bad guy who they can make-over.Past Midnight is the better movie. Hauer may or may not be an innocent man framed; but Natasha falls for him well before she has any clue he might not have stabbed his pregnant wife in the gut with a butcher knife. More I need not tell you except Hauer comes across as a real man, whether guilty or not he's to be reckoned with --- unlike the sissy style "vampire veg" guys in Twilight. Past Midnight delivers a good 90 minutes of entertainment.

This turned out to be more of a women's romance-soap-suspense film than what I hoped it was....simply a tense thriller. Yes, the final 20 minutes were suspenseful but much of the previous 75 bordered on being just plain tedious.Ruter Hauer was a little too subdued, not playing his normal intense character. Natasha Richardson sports somewhat of a dumb look most of the time and her character was very unappealing.The story is so-so. It's not as bad as I'm making out, but it sure isn't anything I'd watch again, and the back of the VHS describing this movie was misleading.

Whilst this film is not going to re-invent the Suspense/Thriller genre it views as one that could have been an A movie with a little more money and a bit of promotion. Certainly not with a change of cast. The twists, the developing romantic theme, all make this worth your viewing time. Rutger Hauer has his own unique brand of acting and Natasha Richardson can not only act but is rather cute.

Natasha Richardson is always fun to watch and I've also enjoyed Rutger Hauer also, so when this appeared on my cable the other day I was kind of curious. Since no one had written a comment on it, I decided to do so. It's a suspense film with a lot of suspects. I really don't want to comment at all on the plot, because to do so even in the least would constitute a spoiler. I only gave it a six, but perhaps if I were feeling generous I would have given it a seven. If you are a big fan of grade-B suspense then check this out. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.