Posted: 02/12/2011

10 to Midnight Review

by Robert Baum

Review: 10 to Midnight (1983)

Charles Bronson tracks a ladykiller through the mean streets of Los Angeles. This offering from Cannon is a low-budget Dirty Harry as they probably can’t afford to secure the services of Clint Eastwood. Some might remember that Bronson, once upon a time before westerns all but rode off into the sunset, was asked to play the “Man with No Name” for director Sergio Leone before Eastwood took the role.
10 to Midnight reteams Bronson with veteran action director J. Lee Thompson. Their fourth film together is a harsh, gritty thriller not unlike Bronson’s previous assignment for producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. However, it’s better than last year’s Death Wish II.
Lt. Leo Kessler (Bronson), a veteran cop, is teamed with a well-mannered, by-the-book detective named McAnn (Andrew Stevens). Kessler is a maverick in his approach and intuitively suspects an intense-looking young thug (Gene Davis) of murdering a friend of his estranged daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher of An Officer and a Gentleman).
Kessler’s unorthodox methods and a lack of evidence result in the release of the suspected killer. McAnn is not exactly so forceful as his seasoned, street-savvy partner. The suspect is released and more killings ensue. Laurie is more aggressive than McAnn and finds herself falling for the charming but green detective. McAnn’s manner borders on naivete as he is slow in recognizing and reciprocating.
Of course the killer starts to harass Laurie. The actions really prompt pop to forget police protocol which sits just fine with a smarmy defense attorney (Geoffrey Lewis, the frequent non-simian co-star of the forementioned Eastwood) in the courtroom. Thus enabling the thug to go on about his merry malevolent way.
It would be somewhat criminal to divulge what next occurs for fans of this fare probably know what happens next; and probably how it ends. As we have seen these cat and mouse games previously played onscreen and particularly in films starring Bronson.
Here Bronson is doing little more than a variation on the Death Wish theme. Except for the badge, his methods of dealing with the killer usually have him meting out justice with little room for appelate lawyers. Not at all that much different from the vigilante practices of Dirty Harry. Does this mean there are hopes for a planned series a la Eastwood’s Harry Callahan? Bronson still looks tough as nails, though. But how much longer can he play such roles in this sort of fare.
10 to Midnight is a solid enough effort by Thompson. Enough to almost make one forget how the script is collection of hackneyed situations, cliched characters, and a spate of stale dialogue; though the actors are cast in the right roles. The cinematography of Adam Greenberg gives the film a gritty, film noir feel.
It does, however, pale in contrat to other efforts by Thompson, namely The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Cape Fear (1962). 10 to Midnight is not a pleasure to watch as there is more than an ample amount of blood onscreen, courtesy of Davis, brother of Midnight Express star Brad Davis.Davis makes for a foul and perverted fiend whom audiences will be only too happy to despise.

Robert Baum is Currently a Bryn Mawr, PA-based film afficanado and pop culture junkie.

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