5ive Days to Midnight (2004) (TV)

Director:

Michael W. Watkins

Writers (WGA):

Robert Zappia (story) (hour 1) and
David Aaron Cohen (story) (hour 1) ...

Release Date:

7 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

He has five days to solve a murder... his own.

Plot:

When college professor J.T. Neumeyer discovers a police file that outlines the details of his murder - which is to take place five days in the future - he wastes no time trying to save his own life.

Plot Keywords:

Intentionally Misspelled Title | Abusive Husband | Birthday Party | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship | Brother In Law

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	J.T. Neumeyer
Randy Quaid	...	Irwin Sikorski
Kari Matchett	...	Claudia Whitney
Hamish Linklater	...	Carl Axelrod
Angus Macfadyen	...	Roy Bremmer
Gage Golightly	...	Jesse Neumeyer
Nicole de Boer	...	Chantal Hume (as Nicole deBoer)
David McIlwraith	...	Brad Hume
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Tim Sanders
Nick Allen	...	Policeman
Christine Anton	...	Mrs. Silveira
Daniel Bacon	...	Jesse's Teacher
Blake Banbury	...	Orderly
Lisa Ann Beley	...	Amy
Paul Bittante	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

5 Days to Midnight (USA) (alternative spelling)
Five Days to Midnight (Australia)

Runtime:

210 min (4 parts) | Czech Republic:210 min (5 parts)

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:14 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

David Kirschner Productions

Trivia:

The events in the mini-series take place Monday, 7 June 2004 through Friday, 11 June 2004. The show premiered on the SciFi Channel (USA) on Monday, 7 June 2004 and consecutive episodes were shown each night through Friday, 11 June 2004 roughly following a real-time schedule. The fourth episode (with events ending at or slightly past 3.55am according to the script) was actually first shown at 9.00pm on Thursday, 10 June 2004, so the series did get ahead a bit. Additional date-specific product placements (for instance, a poster for _The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)_, playing in theaters at the time, as seen on a slow pan at the university outside Neumeyer's office) and current popular culture references (for example, a reference to the popular show, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000), airing at the time on network TV) in conversation help reinforce this setup.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the fist part of the mini-series, J.T. Neumeyer promises his daughter that they will look for Orion with her new telescope. He is shown looking at Orion's Belt a little later that night. Orion's Belt is only visible from Washington in winter evenings, not June.

Movie Connections:

References "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000)

Soundtrack:

10,000 Miles

Great Mystery-Suspense Sci-Fi!

Kudos to SCI FI Channel for a great mini-series!

I enjoyed the four days of wonderful suspense and time-loops drove me crazy guessing. The Sci-Fi boards were abuzz with over 700 posts!

The whole concept of giving watchers the clues online to begin to make their guesses as to the ending was a brilliant touch of intelligence at work!

I won't give any endings away - but I will say that if you watch this you will not be sure until the very ending exactly how it ends.

Timothy Hutton was the star and he handled it with aplomb. The great supporting cast was headed by Randy Quaid and Kari Matchett. Hamish Linklater was wonderful as the manic Physics student as were Angus MacFadyen as the mobster and David McIlwraith as the brother-in-law.

But the major acting discovery was GAGE GOLIGHTLY as Hutton's daughter. She was marvelous in every scene she was in and stole the limelight from whomever was with her. Natural talent like that is to be appreciated. Not to mention her remarkable resemblance to the young Drew Barrymore. It would be interesting to see Drew Barrymore in a prequel-sequel of this mini-series - if she weren't probably overpriced for SCI FI channel?

All in all - we were kept on our seats for 4 wonderful days of suspense, trying to outguess the wonderful writers. Kudos to all of them!

I recommend this highly for mystery and suspense buffs. Not just Sci-Fi fans. It's a winner!