Brian Smrz

(In French, On TV, April 2020) Work long enough as a leading man, and you’re bound to star into all sorts of movies. While Ethan Hawke is not the first name that comes to mind as “Science fiction action hero,” his filmography is so long that there are a few action movies in there, and 24 Hours to Live is the one in which he plays a dead assassin brought back to life but only given another… yup… 24 hours to live. Rather than meditate on the failings of his life and make amends, he instead embarks on a rampage of revenge, chaining one action sequence after another. If the film has a highlight, it’s not the plot—soporific despite what could have been a modestly effective high-concept premise, 24 Hours to Live loses itself in its own narrative and that’s too bad considering how forgettable it all is. Where director Brian Smrz does better is in the execution of formulaic action sequences: Able to stretch his direct-to-video budget though the bang-for-the-buck of shooting in South Africa, he manages to package a few better-than-average action sequences in a worse-than-average narrative, effectively making it a draw. 24 Hours to Live is still a direct-to-video low-budget production, but it’s not as terrible as most of them.