Customer Reviews

3 A.M.

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A struggling taxi company has struggling taxi drivers with heavy emotional issues, add to this a serial killer who is after the taxi drivers and apparently enjoys killing them at night for sport, and what do you have? An instant movie classic? Perhaps not. But with good acting by Glover, Grier, and Rodriguez, you end up with a fine movie. This movie shows a colorful but desperate world of the working class in a big city. There is everything here: love, childhood trauma, fear of commitment, prostitution, and, of course, murder. There are even stories of Bosnian genocide!

We are introduced to a cab driver from Bosnia who is not only one of the worst natural drivers in the world, but also incredibly distracted. This means that every day he has an accident. He is so accident prone that he ends up having to leave the country and his love (who prostitutes herself at a bathhouse) and go back to Bosnia.

Not to be outdone, Glover's and Rodriguez's characters resort to extreme violence when they feel physically or emotionally pushed. The movie is original, and its host of ethnic characters makes it fun and colorful. The ending is also not your typical happy ending. It is not that unhappy. It is just not typical. I recommend the movie.

"3 A.M." takes a film noir view of the life of 3 taxi cab drivers in the Big Apple circa 2001. It stars Danny Glover and Michelle Rodriguez and was directed by Spike Lee protégé Lee Davis.

Danny Glover (1946) is best known from his "Lethal Weapon" series and from his work on TV where he earned 4 Emmy nominations ("Lonesome Dove", "Mandela" "Freedom Song"). Since 1979 he has appeared in more than 50 films. Glover plays an ex-basketball player who is having problems committing to his waitress girlfriend played by Pam Grier.

Pam Grier (1949) is one of the premier Black actresses of the late 20th century, appearing in such films as "The Big Doll House" (1971), "Foxy Brown" (1974), "Fort Apache The Bronx" (1981), "Above the Law" (1988), "The Package" (1989), "Escape from LA" (1996), "Mars Attack" (1996) and "Jackie Brown" (1997).

Michelle Rodriguez (1978) made her film debut in "Girlfight" (2000) and this was her second film. She's been in more than a dozen films including "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), "Resident Evil" (2002), "Machette" (2010), and "Battle LA" (2011). Rodriguez plays a moody Puerto Rican haunted by her past.

Sergej Trifunovic (1972) plays a Bosnian cab driver haunted by the atrocities in his homeland.

Sarita Choudhury (1966) plays the owner of the poorly named Lucky Lady Cab Company, who is trying desperately to get enough money to keep the company going. She made her film debut in "Mississippi Masala" (1991).

Hulky and ubiquitous Mike Starr (1950) plays Grier's boss, the owner of a diner. Starr does his usual great job in a supporting role. You'll remember him best as the Whitney Houston's bodyguard in "The Bodyguard" (1992) and from the 100+ gangster films he's been in.

Lee Davis is the writer and director. This was his writing and directing debut and his only full length feature to date. Prior to this he worked as a crew member on various Spike Lee films.

There are several problems with this film, not the least of which is that everyone seems to be having a lot of problems so there is very little uplifting. Maybe everyone who works as a cab driver has a miserable life, but surely there was something more upbeat that could be inserted. After all, "Taxi" was a major hit on TV for many years and it managed to give us a collection of people who were not so buried in the murk.

The other main problem with the film is that this type of episodic revolving plot requires a master director to switch between characters and still maintain the momentum of the story. It's difficult to do and it's why so many of these types of ensemble films fail, or at least, do not succeed as well as they might. Robert Altman was a master of this craft. Spike Lee does a good job with this genre. Unfortunately, Davis does not stack up to these levels. The result is a less than satisfactory collection of stories, even though the film is populated with very good actors doing very good jobs.

This isn't a bad film, but neither is there anything here to recommend it, apart from the strong performances.

After seeing Girlfight I was excited about the new young actress Michelle Rodriguez. If anyone needs to see a phenomenal debut film, that would be the one. Girlfight marked Rodriguez as a new talent to watch. Her subsequent films (Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil, and even Blue Crush) have all played on the tough girl theme that was introduced in Girlfight. I was trying to find all of the movies in which she had acted in the hopes that a performance would measure up to her first. While nothing has measured up to her first movie, in my search for her movies, I found something called 3 AM. I had never heard of this movie before, and since it co-starred Danny Glover and Pam Grier, I figured this was some independent movie that slipped under the radar. I gave it a rent and sat down to watch it. When the opening credits rolled, I found out that this was a Showtime movie. It probably never had a theatrical release and until it came out on DVD was likely only shown on Showtime. While there is excellent programming on cable (Band of Brothers, The Sopranos, etc), finding out that it is a made for Showtime movie does not inspire confidence, regardless of the actors involved.

The story follows several cabdrivers in New York City. There is a serial killer out there who is targeting cabbies, and there is a lot of fear amongst the cabbies wondering who is going to be next. As the killings continue, it hits closer to home as a cabdriver friend is killed. Danny Glover plays a cabdriver who is in love with Pam Grier (a waitress). Michelle Rodriguez plays a young cabbie trying to pay her rent, but is haunted by visions of her past. Yes, Rodriguez is still playing to type as her character is the tough girl, somewhat angry. She plays it well, but at some point Michelle is going to have to stop playing variations on the same character.

This is a fairly disappointing movie. Despite being acted by some top line talents and being produced (with a cameo appearance) by Spike Lee, this movie is just not very good. I wanted very much to like this movie, but I just couldn't. Unless you are trying to complete a collection of movies starring your favorite actor, give this one a pass and spend your money on something good,

I kept wating for a real story line, was there one? The movie developed the characters but no one was given a real story. Waste of time movie.

No problems at all. Got it a few days after I ordered it and I have no complaints. Thanks for the movie.

I received a damaged copy that would not play after ten minutes or so. I saw enough to let me know that it would have been a waste of my time to ask for a replacement.

being a die hard michelle rodriguz fan i highly recommed this. i have all three of her movies. she is street tough, sexy. like her other movies girl fight and fast and the ferious this movie is awesome. love live michelle

this looks good i want to see it any thing with vin diesel( hhhooottttttiiieee) and michelle rodriegiez( awesome) ill watch it im ur tipicalyy stalker.