That One Last Assignment Could Prove Fatal

That One Last Assignment Could Prove Fatal

Bruce Von Stiers

An assassin is set to complete his final assignment before he retires. But mysterious phone calls are creating a wrinkle he didn't count on. That is the basis for the thriller film A Time For Sunset. The film is from Second Chance Pictures.

The film opens with a man on a video on a phone, saying that he may not get out of where he's at. And in the background, there are EMT's trying to stabilize him.

Then it's six hours earlier. The same man is now in a hotel room with his luggage, one piece of it, a travelling golf bag. He gets a call on his cell phone that shows no caller ID. He ignores the call. This sets up things up for the rest of the film.

In the room, with his back against the window, the man doesn't know a red laser dot has appeared on his jacket. What is this all about?

From the available synopsis of the film, the viewer already knows that the man is an assassin. So, there is no surprise when the man checks in with his employer, and they will let him know when the target is close. But before that, the man videochats with his wife and young daughter.

The man keeps getting the no caller ID call and then he spots that red laser dot. He scrunches down away from the window. The phone rings again and now he answers it. This starts a cat and mouse game between the man and the person on the phone.

What does the person on the other side of the call want? It seems he wants to kill the man. During some back and forth between the two, the man identifies himself as John and the other voice calls himself the Grim Reaper.

A lot of the film is just John talking on the phone with Grim Reaper, who John just calls Grim. John is trying to figure out Grim's angle on things and why the guy wants to kill him. Is this an act of revenge? Does Grim think that by killing John that he can take his place? Did John's employer assign Grim to take out John instead of letting him retire and stroll off into the sunset? Do they have some kind of weird connection that's known only to Grim?

Interspersed with phone calls are a series of events. First, John does a couple of things in the hotel room to make it difficult for Grim to get a shot at him. Then there is Carl, a hotel porter. Carl first tries to get into the room, and then later leaves a room service cart of food for John. There are a couple of rowdy teenage boys messing around that John threatens. Then their mom and later the hotel manager get involved. And a police officer as well. There is also a prostitute that Grim sends over to John. These events fold into other events that lead to the conclusion of the film.

By the end of the film, I pretty much figured out who Grim was and why he wanted to kill John. But I was a bit surprised by how the ending unfolded.

Don Worley played John. He's done stand-up comedy and, really, has been a trial lawyer in addition to acting. He played the lead character in Pastor Shepherd and starred in a reality show based on his career as an attorney.

Max Worley played Carl. He previously appeared in the Danny Trejo film Pastor Shepherd.

Jaclyn Hales played Julie, the prostitute that Grim sends over to John. She starred in the action crime series Cypher and co-starred in the thriller film, The Sinister Surrogate.

Stephanie Parker played Susan, John's wife. She appeared in Divine Influencer and Disciples in the Moonlight. Miriam Spumpkin played John's daughter Kirby. She has appeared in over a dozen films.

Mark Christopher Lawrence played the unlucky police officer who comes to John's room. He's played a police officer in a couple of other films and a pastor in a couple of more.

Jane Schwartz played the mother of the rowdy teenaged boys. She starred in the comedy Austin Dude and the drama Man Goes On A Rant. Patrick Ryan Sullivan played the hotel manager. He was in an episode or Law and Order: SVU and played a bishop in a couple of podcast episodes.

Nicholaus Weindel did the voice of Grim. He starred in the horror film, Child of Light and voiced the character of Preston in the Camp Camp animated series.

Also appearing in the film were Dennis Zlobinski, Sonny Chung, Danny Gallehugh, Warren Abercrombie, Camden Hodges, Malik James, Frank J. Kim, Hamilton Sharpe and Jason Van Dong.

The director and cinematographer of the film was Thomas L. Callaway. He was the cinematographer for Cruise Ship Murder, Death Streamer and Dead Wrong.

The screenplay was written by Don Worley, Alex Wroten, Bernie Felix, Jr. and Harry Victor. Felix was the screenwriter for Fiesta Grand. Wroten wrote and directed Gospel of Ted and Endangered. Victor wrote episodes of shows such as Eureka and The Book of Daniel.

A Time For Sunset is a really good thriller. It has a bit of action but is mostly a psychological thriller. Grim is trying to get into John's head before he kills him. John is just trying to survive to complete his assignment and go off into the sunset of his retirement. The story is pretty solid and the acting is well done.

A Time For Sunset is available on Apple TV and Amazon Video.

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