STARS : Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Charles S. Dutton, Peter Strauss, Gloria Reuben, Roma Maffia & Marsha Mason

The appeal of this movie for me is the fact that the producers decided to make the movie in “real time”, much like the current TV series 24 and that’s not where the similarity ends which you’ll see as the review progresses.

Gene Watson (Depp) is a single dad spending time with his young daughter when succonded to partake in an event that will change his life forever.

Mr. Smith (Walken) and Ms. Jones (Maffia) are planning to have Governor Grant (Mason) killed but they’re not going to be the ones to do it. Rather they are going to force some poor bugger in the wrong place at the wrong time to do it for them.

No surpises for guessing that Gene turns out to be that person, convinced by their taking his daughter hostage and threatening to kill her unless the Governor is killed, by him, before 1:30.

As per usual Depp plays his role lacking the necessary conviction to make you believe in his character. Walken is the proverbial bad guy and is awesome as Mr. Smith and Maffia (from Profiler) is interesting mainly for playing a role far removed from that of Grace Alvarez in Profiler.

There is little doubt that Nick Of Time was at least partly repsonsible for the inspiration of 24 which uses a very similar plot line although has the time to explore it in greater detail.

Verdict : Clever, but predictable

THE EXTRAS

* Theatrical Trailer and that’s it, unless of course you count the chapter selection amongst the added features

CONCLUSION

A very cleverly put together film that succeeds provided you don’t put too much thought into the proceedings taking place.

With thanks to Paramount, Nick Of Time is available to buy now.