Director Julian Fort – 2017 USA 86 min Northern California Premiere – Crime Thriller
Lifelong character actor Leon Russom (Prison Break, The Big Lebowski) stars as a safe-cracker fresh off 30 years in prison. When his estranged son offers him for one last job and a $10 million payday, his listless life spirals out of control in this perfectly-plotted brooding heist debut from Fort.
The story behind Julian Fort’s THE MIDNIGHTERS and his star Leon Russom is similar to the one inside the film. “It was almost like a movie father and son because he’s worked in business for so long,” says the writer-director, who crossed paths with Russom time and time again at a coffee shop. You may not know Russom’s name, but you’ve seen his work. With over 100 credits, including Prison Break, The Big Lebowski and the 2010 True Grit, Julian’s star has been in the business a long time. “Someone pointed out to me that I’ve been an actor for maybe 55 years or more and I’ve never played a lead like this,” says the actor, “and [the film] is the perfect metaphor for your situation.”
Russom plays Victor, a former safe-cracker fresh out of prison after thirty-five years. With the shadow of Shawshank’s Brooks Hatlen hanging over Victor’s situation, he even tells his old friend that he’d rather be back inside than try to adjust to this new world. Everything changes when he connects with the son he never met, Danny, who offers him a safe-cracking job for 10 million dollars. “The movie for me is really about my escape and my trying to break into Hollywood,” says writer-director Fort, “it’s something that I’ve been trying to do my whole life and I don’t come from a big money background so it’s been very difficult. And Leon’s been trying to be a leading man for his whole career, he’s had an amazing career playing, you know, the fourth man.” (source: AMFM Magazine – Bears Fonte)
–Bears Fonte
