Trailer Review: 96 Minutes - Speeding through America

All movies are reflection of their times, but some put their finger better on the underlying pulse, the nerve of our present sensations. Zeitgeist. In the arts, it's an elusive prize to capture. A sum of the now. Hollywood loves to catch this lightning in the bottle because it can translate into big box office (Saturday Night Fever). The risk is these movies can look dated as time flies (The Breakfast Club).

The trailer for 96 Minutes doesn't tell much of what the story is about. It has a young bright cast and cars racing around. There are threats of violence and ends with the sound of a gunshot. But this one minute ad feels right now. The kids are from opposite sides of race and class and nothing in between. There's no middle because it's becoming an endangered species. The notes say this is about a carjacking gone bad, but I couldn't find it. What's in the foreground is the mood, tension and struggle for our next generation trying to make it in this new America. It doesn't feel marketed, a product for how to improve, but a genuine mirror of where we are. I'm wondering how far past nighty-six minutes this will go.

Opening April 27, 2012, Verdict: Wait for the Critics