Unless you're game for checking out anything you see in a store, or on TV, "2:13" is not really worth your time. It's really nothing we haven't seen many times before, in similarly themed "psychological thrillers". Leading actor / screenwriter Mark Thompson (better known as a radio personality) plays profiler Russell Spivey, with two predominant, oh so familiar characteristics: he's full of inner demons, and has turned to alcohol as a result. While he gets caught up in a serial murder case, in which the murderer has a personal connection to him, he makes frequent visits to a psychiatrist played by Kevin Pollak. Oh, and he just happens to have been romantically involved with one of his colleagues, played by the sexy Teri Polo of the "Meet the Parents" franchise. This is one of those scripts where one would swear the screenwriter was going down a list of popular clichés and ticking them off as he utilized them. Thompson does make some attempt at originality by using the Shakespeare comedy "As You Like It" (!) as a plot element, as well as some attempt at profundity, but it just doesn't come off. Oppressive atmosphere, and recurring use of disturbing / gory imagery can only help so much. The main cast features a number of familiar faces, who each bring some credibility to the production, and take their roles seriously, not that they can do much to raise it above an average level. Jere Burns ('Dear John', 'Something So Right') plays one of Thompson's colleagues (and, in fact, worked with Thompson and Pollak in a previous movie, "Mother Ghost"), Lyman Ward ("Ferris Bueller's Day Off") is the police captain, Ken Howard ('Dynasty', 'The Colbys', 'Crossing Jordan') is a sheriff, country music star & actor Dwight Yoakam is the character Sandy, and Mark Pellegrino ('Lost', "Capote") is a distraught husband. What "2:13" really can't overcome are the holes in Thompson's screenplay, chief among them the revelation of who the killer is; there are ways this could have been solved but as it is the whole thing is bungled. Too bad; this could have been at least somewhat better. Five out of 10.
Review of 2:13
