Bullet Points: October 22

October 22 takes place on… October 22. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to know anything else about the movie because they got it effin’ right. If you call your movie October 22, you better damn make sure to have it happen on October 22. The year in this case doesn’t matter, although the movie opens with Mark Boone Junior on a payphone. And if the payphone doesn’t date the movie, it is a (somewhat) svelte and clean shaven Mark Boone Junior, something no one has seen in a while. What you should be seeing around this time is October 22. It might not be the most action packed movie but it makes up for it with a unique storytelling (there are several separate storylines that meet at the action packed conclusion,) compelling characters, and a twist ending. Luckily for you, I just happen to have some Bullet Points for a movie that you can watch any day of the year so join me on a journey to the 1998 film October 22.

• October 22 opens with a wounded Bob (Mark Boone Junior, The Quick and the Dead) on the payphone calling 911.
• Police respond to the scene and draw their weapons on the gun holding Gary (Michael Paré, Streets of Fire) and before the cops or Gary can make a move the movie jumps to earlier in the day, October 22 in Los Angeles, CA.
•  Arthur (Ernie Hudson, Operation Delta Force) is a slightly slow man who lives by himself, but has an unhealthy infatuation with his neighbor Denise (Amanda Plummer). Was Ernie Hudson wearing a fat suit to play Arthur?
• Denise is having her own relationship problems and does not know about Arthur’s desires until he foolishly tells her and Denise summarily turns him down.

• FYI, Arthur, if you want a girl to like you it is probably not a good idea to recite her daily routine with exact specifications that only a stalker would know. It will get you slapped, and it does for Arthur.
• Peter (Tate Donovan, G-Men from Hell) is a marketing hotshot that is having trouble landing his latest deal of getting a product placement for candy in an action movie. Like all good hotshot marketing execs he has a steadfast secretary that keeps him in line.
• I am still waiting for Turbo Warrior 3: A New Beginning to be released.
• Peter meats Andrea (Maylin Pultar) outside of his office and he is instantly smitten. But is the feeling mutual?
• Andrea is a painter who is painting a beach scene on a storefront. Andrea is an excellent painter, not because of the finished work, but because she paints the storefront without getting any paint on her besides her fingers. I can’t paint a flat wall using only one color without ending up wearing half a gallon.
• Carole (Donna Murphy) is a recently divorced woman who is not too happy about her life direction. Not that I can blame her because when I say recently divorced I mean the divorce became official on October 22. Her ex-husband wastes no time and is getting married on October 22.
• After a makeover montage, Carole shows up to the wedding drunk in order to really give it to her ex-husband, but she secretly wishes her ex-husband was giving it to her… if you know what I mean.

• Steve (Colm Meaney) is the best man at the wedding and he is the one to help Carole and is this going to lead to a romantic situation for the pair?
• Spoiler alert, Steve is gay so the answer is no.
• I thought you said Mark Boone Junior and Michael Paré were in October 22?
• Bob is a mechanic who is struggling to make ends meet to support his family and just wants enough money to buy his son a birthday present. His prick boss (his words, not mine) doesn’t make things easy for him, but the kind girl at the toy store does.
• Gary is an unemployed, homeless and broke sad sack who is forced to pawn his watch for money. Of course he pawns it for a gun instead of the cash. Gary also tries to steal from his stripper ex-wife and October 22 just doubled down on the sad sack factor.
• October 22 decides it is time for all these disparate folks to be at the same restaurant at the same time on the same day… that day is October 22 in case you forgot.
• What are the odds that all these people would be at the same restaurant in a metropolis like Los Angeles? It is a movie, try some suspension of disbelief and if you really are looking for the odds to wager on an action movie you might want to check out a different website, www.ncpg.org.
• October 22 soon picks up with scene from the beginning of the movie, but I won’t tell you how it got to the place of the cops pointing their guns at Gary because it would spoil the twist.

October 22 is an entertaining movie… as long as you are not looking for an action movie. The characters and their unique storylines that come together at the end make for a compelling 94 minutes. The actors are perfectly cast with some talented actors that have legitimate action movie cred. All of the action is in the first and last scenes, which are essentially the same scenes, but I don’t care. The movie is called October 22 and it takes place only on October 22. What else do you need? Bonus Bullet Points you say? Ok, I will leave you with some October 22 Bonus Bullet Points.

• Best Out of Context Quote – “You look like a Peter.”
• Best Action Movie Star Shout Out – Lorenzo Lamas.
• Familiar Faces – Be on the lookout for Ivana Milicevic from Banshee and Columbus Day and Jack Carter from Arena and The Octagon.
• Wrong Side of the Camera? – I am pretty sure I saw October 22 director Richard Schenkman playing a bartender.