Elaine and Melinda are holed up in a small town diner. They've been on the run and are now pinned into a corner. They know they've been followed, but by whom they aren't sure. The one comfort they have is that they are certain their pursuers don't know their faces either. Can they uncover their assassin's identity before its too late? Everyone is a suspect. Ambitious Mississippi writer and director Glen Payne literally imitates a gimmick that Alfred Hitchcock used in "Rope" (1948) in his own notable short saga "The Third Shift." Payne struggles to make an incident in a late-night diner appear as if everything were lensed in a single, extended take. He demonstrates a lot of imagination with this gimmick, he appears to have bitten off more than he can chew. The dialogue degenerates quickly into blather, while the suspense mounts after two women encounter another woman in the ladies room. Our heroines are suspicious that somebody is on their trail. Actually, "The Third Shift" resembles a spin on "Thelma and Louise." They clobber a woman who followed them in the ladies room, and they spend the rest of the film trying to figure out who in the diner is following them. The chief flaws here are weak characterization and slack performances. Despite his valiant efforts and above-average cinematography, it appears quite evident throughout this 33 minute epic that Payne has overdrawn himself. Nevertheless, Payne displays considerable talent, even though it doesn't add up in the long run as an ominous exercise in tension.
Fabrocha replied
370 weeks ago