Sam is smart. And he knows that the child might not be his, but he’s a stand up guy who wants to do the right thing. In one evening, his commitment to a strict moral code will be tested.

“Expiration” is an ambitious debut from writer/director Gavin Heffernan. It’s earnest and genuine which helps overcome derivative elements.

Sam (Gavin Heffernan) is a small town boy who may be the father of Niki’s (Erin Simkin) unborn child. Niki is a scared kid who chooses the best of her lovers. She likes Sam which is not hard because Sam is the kind of easy-going guy who’s everybody’s friend. After telling Sam that he is the father of the child she is expecting, the two head off to the city for a romantic evening. Sam has located his mother’s old engagement ring and intends to pop the question.

After having dinner in which Sam fails to present the ring, Sam and Niki get lost attempting to find their way to a specific motel. Niki gets sick and Sam pulls over in what appears to be a bad part of town and parks the car recklessly leaving the ailing Niki inside. He goes down the street and around the corner into a convenience store in search of Pepto for his girl and is robbed by a gun wielding boy. His mother’s engagement ring is grabbed in the robbery and he feels obligated to try to get it back. At the scene of the crime, Sam meets Rachel (Janet Lane also a young thin blonde similar to Erin Simkin viewers could get them mixed up) who has also been robbed of merchandise she is to deliver at 4 am that morning. The “merchandise” is a large amount of drugs and we are left with the impression that Rachel will not make it through the next day if the delivery is not made. So starts a journey into the night and for Sam, Rachel, and Niki into the unknown.

“Expiration” features a large cast and many subplots that add an infinite number of layers to the story. Because of the sincerity of all involved particularly the subdued acting job of filmmaker Gavin Heffernan, the film works. Still, I wished that the film had calmed down (although it is calculatingly paced) enough to explain a few of the stories jettisoning the weaker subplots in favor of the major ones. It is obvious that the filmmaker wants to make something like a toned down “Pulp Fiction” fused with “Into the Night” and achieves a youthful version of “Go” without the hyper-violence and action expected of this genre (which might be called the “After Hours” category).

I was troubled by how subdued and accepting Heffernan played the character of Sam. Given the many developing stories Heffernan’s underplayed performance may have been necessary because the screenplay makes Sam the emotional center of the film. Still, I really did not buy his constant acceptance and calm cool manner in dealing with bad goings on in dark places. Also, this is a film by young people who have spent a lot of time watching other movies, particularly films of the last 10 years. The characters act like they are from other movies instead of from the world in which we live. It’s hard to identify with them on any authentic level approximating our lives. Such emotional attachment is critical to suspending the viewer’s disbelief. I’m not suggesting that filmmakers should reference the classic works of literature or create characters that look, act and speak like folks we actually know when putting together their screenplays. But when the characters are so sharply influenced by characters present is other films, the effect is to make stale original ideas within the film. And while this is a work of fiction it isn’t science fiction, the filmmaker certainly wants to create an emotional bond with his audience especially youths of the same age as the characters within his film.

The ironic thing is that perhaps the only way Heffernan may actually make the connection with his core audience, the 15 to 25 year old crowd, is to feature characters so very much like those present in films (and television series) in the last 10 years. I remember the film “Snipes” I reviewed favorably (others nuked it) last year because it’s derivative nature made it an almost clever homage to other films. In talking with the filmmaker who made "Snipes," Rich Murray, I told him that I thought I got his film. Murray shamelessly admitted that his references to other probably better films were intentional acts to take advantage of the audience’s familiarity with the world that may exist only in the movies. Some movies like, say, any action film staring Bruce Willis, we expect these familiar characterizations.

The familiarity factor is a good technique if handled well and coupled with original ideas. “Kill Bill” had this quality but, frankly, because I found it so perfectly made, I could not contain my overwhelming support of it (call it guilty pleasure indulgence like watching reruns of the “X-Files” or making a party of the final season of “Sex and the City”). So, too, I found “Moulin Rouge” successful because the musical soundtrack was made up of so many beloved tunes from so many generations that I found myself humming to the new eclectic fusing. The love story of “Rouge” was merely an afterthought it seemed.

“Expiration” takes advantage of familiar elements but injects into the artificially odd movie world happenings a calm clear-headed do-gooder in the character of Sam. Although some viewers may cynically dismiss Sam’s moral code and calm accepting demeanor, his character brings freshness to the film raising it above the mediocre. Perhaps, causing him to get out of control would have been a welcomed surprise but that would require the deletion of one of the subplots and the addition of a situation putting Sam in direct and immediate peril beyond the initial robbery. Maybe, filmmaker Gavin Heffernan will save the surprises for his next film.

The DVD of “Expiration” now available is excellent because it gives us a documentary of the making of the film in which I was surprised by the guerrilla filmmakering techniques employed. Filmmaker Gavin Heffernan was an almost one man show it seemed and he is shown in the documentary holding lights and the camera. For a digital video production, this film looks very good. The images are sharp, colors particularly the blacks are not noticeably faded and the editing is excellent. Heffernan’s direction is clearly the driving force behind the success of the project and his passion is evident both in front and behind the camera.

Although I whine about derivative subplot and characters, “Expiration” is a sincere competent production with good performances and a story featuring a fresh character with a strong moral code.

Sam discovers that doing the right thing is its own reward. Few movies about young people today package themselves with the familiar trappings of mainstream fluff but convincingly center upon a smart character who takes action out of concern for others. It’s one to grow on from the soil of the art-form of the cinema.

Visit the "Expiration" website: http://expiration.ca/

Jonathan W. Hickman, 2003