What I'm Watching: ATM
And we keep rolling along!
ATM caught my eye for having an interesting plot, and one I don't recall hearing before. At least not specifically. We've all seen variations on this theme, though. Anyways, originality and quality catches my eye, so I decided to check it out.
The plot is basically thus: a trio of investors (I think that's what they were. It's ultimately unimportant...), get trapped inside an ATM kiosk in the middle of a parking lot by a crazed madman. Oh yeah, and it's Christmas Eve. And cold.
Many of the obvious concerns are addressed, like why they don't just walk out, when the man brutally savages another guy who stumbles upon the scene. While a few IQ points get sacrificed for plot convenience and plot contrivance, I think most of the stuff makes sense, and they react within the limits of most people. Sure, there's three of them and one of him, but he smashed the head of a security guard against the pavement. This guy means business! None of them were about to sacrifice their lives on a maybe.
The movie then revolves around the trio trying to escape the kiosk, while the hooded stranger takes his time tormenting them and making things ever more difficult with every passing hour. Also, the mystery of just why the person is doing this slowly unravels. Although, that end reveal of just why this happened is a bit of a disappointment. I *did* like the twist with the male lead at the end though. It's an easy enough one to get out of, but still a good way to screw with expectations. And yes, I am being vague for spoilers.
Still, the ending being a bit of a letdown, although I do like it on one level, and the pace of the movie does drag a bit, so ATM isn't great.
It's entertaining, once they reach the kiosk. It's very entertaining. It's always fascinating to watch just how fast societal norms can break down, even just amongst three people slowly freezing to death. The first ten, fifteen minutes though, are an almost typical romantic comedy. It's like they took scripting notes from Birdemic. Still, this wasn't as off-balance as that, and at least they got to the plot quickly.
So yes, ATM amounts to yet another entertaining movie I don't say rush out and buy, but it's at least worth catching some late night on tv. If it sounds interesting or fun to watch a trio try and outsmart a killer lurking out of reach, then hey, give it a shot.
J
