Review: MIDNIGHT IN THE SWITCHGRASS Starring Megan Fox, Emile Hirsch, Lukas Haas, and Bruce Willis
I got the opportunity to watch the film Midnight in the Switchgrass ahead of its release this week. The film has a great cast that is led by Megan Fox, Emile Hirsch, and Lukas Haas, as well as Bruce Willis. Fox plays an FBI agent who has been sent to Florida to investigate a string of murders alongside her partner, played by Willis. I thought Willis would play a larger role in the film, but he was pretty much there to establish that Fox was sort of a loose cannon, and he then moved on to deal with some personal issues going on in his life. We do see him appear again, but his role is really just peripheral.
Fox’s character then pairs up with a Florida police officer, played by Hirsch, who has also been working the cases. Haas plays the killer who leads a double life, one at home with a wife and daughter, and one where he picks up young women and girls on the road while driving his truck, and murdering them in his barn. Fox and Hirsch’s characters are closing in on the case, but are up against a clock that is running out, as one girl is going to be murdered soon, and Fox becomes the next victim.
This film had a lot of potential. It did have some very intense moments that built an uneasy feeling, and Haas was a perfectly cast villain. Fox gave a solid performance, and it was nice to see her in the role that was probably the strongest of her career. It was a role that typically would be played by a man, but it fit her nicely, and besides the fact that her makeup was never anything but perfect, she was believable. Hirsch was great in the role as well, possibly underutilized, but overall a great performance.
While the story was predictable, it was a decent thriller that entertained and moved along. My biggest issue with the film was that it felt rushed. It seemed to move from plot point to plot point without lingering in the spaces that would have allowed us to get to know the characters a little better. It was well-made, and perfectly cast, but it seemed like it could have slowed down and gone just a step further in character development and story building.
Midnight in the Switchgrass opens in theaters, On Demand and Digital on July 23, 2021, and on Blu-ray and DVD on July 27, 2021.
