This loose adaptation of James Salter’s short story “Twenty Minutes” seems to have begun filming without a clear vision or direction. From scene to scene, the movie seems to be trying to figure out what story it wants to tell, who its characters will be, and where the plot will go. The final result is a befuddling, pointless mess of a movie, with a series of unlikable prep-school schoolmates threatening each other for eighty minutes while Winona Ryder occasionally pops by, as though wandering in from a different movie altogether. By the time the credits start to roll, the movie has figured itself out but the audience is left wondering why they bothered to watch it in the first place. There’s no reason to watch this other than for diehard Ryder fans.
Rating: ★ (out of 5)
