It's clearly a fairly low-budget film which is set in one location almost throughout - the dusty, dry landscape of Arizona and particularly one petrol station with attached hotel and cafe. The Americans would call that a truck-stop, motel and diner of course. And do!
We start off with a simple scenario where a petrol tanker has come off the road and is laying on it's side, driver dead, out of sight of anyone passing. The petrol station is waiting for it to arrive and the longer it goes on with no fuel available, the more people turn up, are told that the delivery is due any minute and so wait in the diner until it does (not knowing that it never will)! Nobody has enough fuel to get the next 100 miles to the next petrol station so they're stuck.
On the radio, we're hearing about a bank robbery which has taken place nearby and the criminals are at large, having fled. First up on the scene at the diner is a premium knife salesman on his way to see his daughter. He's told to wait by the guy running the petrol station, so does. Next up is the waitress opening up the diner being dropped off by her husband, the Sheriff. Waitress and knife salesman start to natter.
Then come the criminals en route to Mexico! They're told the same story and have no option to wait. They do so in the same manner, quietly at first, bag of money in the boot of their car, until they see waitress making a phone call. They then leap into action, threatening waitress and knife salesman to keep quiet and they'll live - to carry on as normal until the petrol lorry arrives.
So now the tension is high between those who know who is who - they try to keep a lid on it as other people arrive facing the same wait. An older couple come in. Even the Sheriff's Deputy rocks up to get some coffee. The air is thick with stress as everyone's on edge and not wanting the robbers to start shooting anyone.
Then we get a young Bonnie and Clyde type couple - think the Honey Bunny pair in Pulp Fiction! They work out what's going on and who is who - and as they are hard up for money, try to plot a way to turn the situation so they can cash in financially. So to rob the robbers! The more people pour into the scene, the more complex it gets, until the gasket is blown and we have the showdown, about two thirds of the way through. And I'll say no more on the plot so as not to spoil the happenings and outcomes for everyone, but expect mayhem and violence (well, otherwise there wouldn't have been much of a story here now, would there)!
The two coppers are actually very funny in their interactions with each other, likewise the guy running the petrol station, initially the old couple and even one of the robbers - a bit young and not very bright, being guided by his older 'brother' (partner in crime). The whole cast do a great job - I don't really know most of them but at least one or two have popped up in Tarantino films. Jim Cummings plays the knife salesman, Faizon Love the petrol station guy, Jocelin Donahue (Doctor Sleep, the waitress, Gene Jones (The Hateful Eight, No Country for Old Men) the old man and so on. I'm sure some will know these actors better than me.
It's a great little thriller which keeps you on your toes until the final scene (in fact there's a comic audio turn during the credits too) and well worth tracking down. It's been a long-time coming but can now be seen on various streaming services here in the UK.
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