Expiration Date (film)

Expiration Date
DVD cover
Directed by	Rick Stevenson
Produced by	John Forsen
Written by	Hamish Gunn Rick Stevenson
Starring	Robert A. Guthrie Jill Bennett Sascha Knopf Dee Wallace Ned Romero Nakotah LaRance Misty Upham
Music by	Tim Boyle Bryon Rickeron B.C. Smith
Cinematography	Bruce Worrall
Edited by	Mark Fulton
Production company	Roadkill Productions LLC
Release date	2006
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Expiration Date (2006) is an independent black comedy film that won many film festival awards.

The story is told by a Native American elderly man to a Native American boy who wants to give up dancing and leave the reservation by bus. The story he tells is about a Native American man named Charlie Silvercloud III who thinks that he will be hit by a milk truck on his 25th birthday, like his father and grandfather before him due to a curse. His birthday is two weeks away. Charlie has a checklist of things he wants to do before his two weeks are up, but because he does not have long to live and has no way to do anything extreme, his list is somewhat more practical than most "bucket" lists. His checklist includes canceling his cellphone contract, watering the plants, and returning library books. His mother tries to prevent the curse from killing him by mapping the milk truck route and is trying to stop Charlie from going outside during certain times just in case he might be killed earlier than expected. While looking for a casket to buy for his assumed death, he meets Bessie Smith who is looking for casket for her mother. Bessie owns a dog named Roadkill because he is able to play dead so convincingly that crowds gather when he plays dead. Bessie and Charlie start seeing each other, but Charlie cannot decide if he should continue the relationship because of his impending death. Things become more complicated when Charlie finds out that Bessie is being stalked by a man who drives a milk truck for the local dairy.

The film was shot in Seattle and has Seattle actors. The film has important Seattle locations that Kim Voynar of Cinematical said was like a walking tour of the city. Rick Stevenson said that the film was revised more than 17 times in 7 years. Rick and the writer Haming Gunn came up with the idea from talking to people that had fathers and grandfathers that died at 35 because of a heart attack. Rick said that he chose Robert Guthrie for the lead role because he has a good sense of humor and is talented when it comes to black comedy. The Seattle dairy Smith Brothers agreed to supply everything related to the milk trucks because they thought that the plot sounded funny.

The film debuted at the Palm Springs Film Festival. The DVD was released on January 27, 2009. The special features have a making of documentary, deleted scenes, director's commentary, the script, stills, cast and crew bios, the trailer, and a documentary called Family Dancing.

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 83% of critics gave positive feedback, based on 6 reviews.