Hot Take: 400 Days has plenty of plot twists but there are too many lingering questions to not make one question dominate: Why is this movie so full of shit?
Here’s the premise of 400 Days: Three guys and one girl (and no pizza place) are used as guinea pigs for a government experiment where they are locked in mock-up of a spacecraft that is built underground and where they must remain for 400 days.
To raise the stakes, two of the “crew” (Brandon Routh and Caity Lotz) used to date, one of the “crew” (Ben Feldman) has recently lost a child and one of the “crew” (Dane Cook) is there to provide comic relief, I guess? Oh wait, it’s Dane Cook so he must be there to NOT be funny.
The story develops rapidly yet rarely does anything of any consequence happen. When something of consequence does happen, it rarely goes anywhere. When something does go somewhere, it usually comes to a dead end. When it doesn’t reach a dead end, it’s left open ended and on us to decide what happened.
Throughout the movie, you find yourself asking a lot of questions. By the end, so many are left unanswered, the real question becomes, “Who cares?”
“Spoiler Free” Pros
- Nostalgic Imagery
The visuals of the mock spacecraft have a throwback feel. If the opening montage of space program talk didn’t feature a clip from Barack Obama, this could have been sold as a movie from the ’70s, ’80s or ’90s. (Honestly, the plot would have worked better, too.) - Pacing? I Guess?
At 91 minutes, 400 Days has an adequate run time. It’s a paradox really since nothing really happens but the filmmakers could have stretched this out for some time but spared us.
“Spoiler Free” Cons
- The Dane Cook Machine Was Set To Maximum Dane Cook
Does Dane Cook have another setting? His bro-ish, boorish and brutish behavior isn’t funny, it’s boring. - Too Many Unanswered Questions
While it may think it is challenging it’s viewers to think, the viewer is likely to think, “Why are these filmmakers so lazy as to leave everything up to us?”