Nick Of Time Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Ninety minutes. Six bullets. No choice.
Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) is an ordinary public accountant returning home from his ex-wife's funeral and is met by Mr Smith (Christopher Walken) and Ms. Jones (Roma Maffia) who kidnap his daughter (Courtney Chase) and give him a gun, six bullets, a name-tag that will give him access to anywhere in a specific hotel, and the itinerary of Governor Grant (Marsha Mason) and is informed that he must kill the Governor in 1 hour and 15 minutes or his daughter will die. The rest of the movie follows Mr. Watson as he desperately attempts to warn the Governor without the knowledge of the two and finds out that the conspiracy against her reaches all the way to those she trusts most.
| Johnny Depp | Gene Watson |
| Courtney Chase | Lynn Watson |
| Christopher Walken | Mr. Smith |
| Roma Maffia | Ms. Jones |
| Marsha Mason | Gov. Eleanor Grant |
| Peter Strauss | Brendan Grant |
| Gloria Reuben | Krista Brooks |
| Bill Smitrovich | Officer Trust |
| G.D. Spradlin | Mystery Man |
| Yul Vazquez | Gustino (Guest Services) |
| Edith Diaz | Irene (Domestic Maintenance) |
| Armando Ortega | Hector (Guest Services) |
| C.J. Bau | Mixologist |
| Cynthena Sanders | Beverage Server |
| John Badham |
6.20 out of 10 (6271 votes)
Visitor Reviews
This movie cooks!!!!
posted on 25 Jun 2009I love this film...this is a fantastic film and those who put negative comments, have no idea what they are talking of.This is among the best movies I've ever seen. It's tense, and fragile at the same time.My kudos to EVERYBODY who worked this film...extras included. You know who you are...even though uncredited.Sometimes doing the wrong thing ends up being the best solution to doing the right thing.I would love to see more films made like this.Excellent casting. Excellent script and location. Wow...I can only give positive reviews about this movie.This is in my top ten definately. Whatever holes there are in the script story are small and workable.The bad guys have fantastic humour. I love it...Christiopher Walken is superb as Mr. Smith.To those that put negative comments about this film...let's see you do better! Go ahead...write a 2 hour suspense...What??? You can't??? Then F*ck off!Johnny Depp was perfect!!! He always is...but this performance blows them all away.The casting of the little girl was primo. The casting of the waiter was top notch.Once again, a sincere thank you to everybody who worked on this film in ALL aspects. I truely enjoy this.There is not too much swearing, not too much politics...everything fits with a good mix.I've watched this several times and loved it from the first time. Every time I see something else new that I like, which I didn't catch before.I carry on with this comment because this film was not given enough credit. This is far better than many Oscar winning films and everybody should know this.What will you do when the time comes?Very very cool!!! Very smoothly executed.I love it! I only wish that I was a part of this film in any capacity.Patrick Sheane Duncan writes excellent!!! Top notch writing and very inspiring to me.I look forward to more of his work.What film students should be looking at when they learn how to write scripts in film school.
There was nothing else on, glad there wasn't
posted on 22 Jun 2009Saw this on TV on a Sunday night where nothing else was on offer, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I thought I would have heard of it if it was any good and I hadn't. If you get a slight feeling of de ja vu watching it, its because its not the first film where christopher walken is involved in a plot to assasinate a governor. The last time was in The Dead Zone (1983). There are a few very similar scenes but its altogether a very different film. Walken excels at playing the baddie, in the same way he did in films like Things to do in Denver When You're Dead and True Romance.
Johnny Depp is great as well as the poor guy roped into the conspiracy to kill a top politician. Hes an average joe whose daughter is kidnapped and held hostage and threatened with execution if Johnnys task isn't carried out. Theres just enough twists and suspense to keep you interested and follow this through to the end, although I was a little disappointed with some elements of the ending, without giving much away, you will spend most of the film wondering who, in the end, lives or dies. From a certain point on the film sets a pace which tells you that anyone is potentially in the line of fire and no character is indispensable when it comes to stepping up the suspense. Quite a short film compared to many, at just 90 minutes but its about the right length and does what it needs to do, with an OK script, although with a few oddly placed characters (shoe shine man may have been miscast)and Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken lighting up the screen this film free wheeled through an hour and a half of my evening and left me wondering why I missed out on it first time round.
space and time
posted on 18 Mar 2009I like this particular project, i like Badham a lot, generally speaking. He is usually able to build his films world around very contained environments, both in time and in space. Even in Saturday Night Fever this device was visible, in a subtle way: there we had a film that was about an era, a certain youth, in a certain portion of the world we can talk about time and space container in a pop culture sense. WarGames was also about this, chasing time was the excuse to increase tension, and build cinematically the suspense mood. Here we have the same premises as in WarGames, a guy has to do something in a short amount of time, otherwise something terrible will happen. The terrible thing to happen and the action he must fulfill are all located around the same city block, so all the development will move around that.Here Badham has a stronger element, comparing to WarGames: he has Depp. We're looking at one of the best current actors, here in a time where he was (even) more than today a risk taker. He tried many things, here is another one. Just looking at Depp is reason enough to watch this. He is one of the few actors who can carry alone the hole audience to make believable what might be questionable, and deepen his performance with the over layering of inner questions, here mostly associated with whether he should complete his "mission" or try to abort it: his daughter vs doing "the right thing". It's rather repetitive material, but the question with Depp (and great actors) is never on What but on How.I could not stop wondering what De Palma could have done here. 3 years after this one, he directed his very personal Snake Eyes, one of his essays on cinematic eye behavior/movement. There, De Palma's cinematic sensibility was collecting the fruits of his careers experiments in moving camera and eye work, but all the rest was so lame, acting, even some scriptwriting (all the writing that wasn't under de Palma's preoccupations) that the experience lost something. That same improved script with Depp could have thrown it yet to another level. Pity Anyway, John Badham is competent enough to make this worthwhile, and he can move around. Walken is (as usual) over the top, he is the tough "smart with words" guy, has usually good recognition from the audiences, but he is not what i enjoy. Nevertheless overall this is a good experience. Try it if you haven't yet.My evaluation: 4/5 http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com
Incredible Suspense Movie
posted on 12 Mar 2009This is definitely the only suspense movie I've seen that actually had me on the edge of my seat biting my nails (As promised on the back of the DVD). I never knew what to expect, and the fact that this is in real time, and that they don't show the time too often, only adds to the suspense. It's a shame that this movie didn't do well at the box office, it really is incredible. The story is actually believable, the directing fits the story so well, and the cast is simply incredible. I never knew what Christopher Walken would do next, or who was in on the conspiracy. The little "reveal", if it could even be considered one, is predictable, but handled so well that you don't even notice, or care. Nick of Time went above and beyond all the expectations I had before watching it. This is without a doubt the best movie in the suspense genre. 10/10
An excellent thriller
posted on 13 Feb 2009Nick of time is one of the best thrillers that I have seen in recent times. It works mainly because it is filmed in 'real time' and with a good script, good leads and an exiting climax this film has you glued from the beginning. Johnny Depp is the unfortunate soul who is blackmailed into assassinating a top government official, when she is on a public visit, by delightfully evil couple (Christopher Walken and Roma Maffia) who have taken his young daughter hostage. Watch this thriller and enjoy as many different events take place and I guarantee as the plot unfolds you will be more and more engrossed. Pretty damn good stuff!
Awesome Suspense!
posted on 02 Feb 2009Johnny Depp plays Gene Watson. Gene is hired by Christopher Walken to kill the senator and he has to do it in an hour and a half. If Gene fails to complete his job then Walken's charater will kill his daughter.
This movie is an awesome suspense. Johnny Depp is terrific as usual and Walken is great as a killer. Trust me, you will not regret watching this movie. It kept me on the edge of my chair the whole time. Even though Johnny doesn't play an unusual character, he still gives the best performance of the movie. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this great thriller/suspense.
A good movie, but. . . .
posted on 01 Feb 2009I really enjoyed the movie, but one thing irritated me about it.Possible spoiler . . . .When Johnny Depp is talking to Dutton while he is getting his shoes shined and is revealing what is happening, Christopher Walken is always watching him yet never suspects that he is summoning help. Earlier someone was killed for trying to help Depp. When Depp and Walken are at Dutton's shoe stand he reveals all (believing Depp when he says Dutton is deaf). Even though he kills indiscriminately earlier, I thought this is a really stupid thing to do.
Great suspense
posted on 23 Jan 2009This movie is very good. It's very suspenseful and exciting without an explosion every 2 minutes. The plot is just remarkable and the story twists are very good and unpredictable. Johnny Depp did a great job as an average man who is in a miserable situation. Very entertaining! I give this movie 9/10.
Hitchcock would have loved filming it
posted on 12 Jan 2009... yes this is in HIS tradition(working against the clock - bizarre mix-ups... - yup - working within a strict disciplin)...
Johnny Depp is in his first REAL mainstream role; but fortunately - it is a good 1... And an interesting 1. If u r one of those who must have fires, explosions, Vin Disel; stay away... As for the rest of us... Let`s sit down and enjoy a good suspenser:-))))
incredibly stupid story
posted on 28 Dec 2008I just watched this film this morning -- nearly a dozen years after the film's release. I wish I had actually never seen it.
What a stupid story! The entire premise is so preposterous that I imagine this film can only be enjoyed if you have the ability to suspend all critical thinking while viewing it. As others have commented, it makes absolutely no sense that this random accountant would be enlisted at the last minute to assassinate a governor, especially given the apparently large network of conspirators involved. Why Johnny Depp's character wouldn't have screamed for help as soon as he and his daughter were being abducted is beyond me. (Are we really to believe that he assumed that the "police" had a legitimate reason for detaining him and his daughter the way they did?) Later while he's pointing the gun at the head of the woman watching his child and she effectively talks him out of pulling the trigger by scaring him that the gunfire would "go through the seat" or be "deflected by a button" and hurt his girl, I could not believe how stupid his character apparently was. A quick shot in the woman's head from the angle at which he was holding the gun would certainly not go through the seat or deflect off a button, and the woman would certainly be dead and he could have taken his daughter and fled. And on and on with the ridiculous scenarios.
By far the worst film I've seen Johnny Depp in. The director even managed to mitigate Depp's sex appeal by making his character plain looking and apparently moronic beyond words.
another good Depp movie...
posted on 04 Dec 2008 my mother say's Johnny Depp is one of her favorite actors. we'll of the younger generation. he's a truly gifted actor and fully becomes each character he plays.
i like watching his movies as well. this one has Christopher Walken playing in it. it's set in real time. he's given a gun a photo and a short amount of time to kill someone. i'm not going to say who or what causes him to do it, just watch it and find out.
don't read any detailed reviews. if you've not seen it watch it for the first time and just see it. anything more descriptive will ruin the whole movie for you.
it is worth buying as well, but if you are into just renting you won't be disappointed. a good flick...
enjoy,
CMH
I lost 7 minutes.
posted on 15 Nov 2008Except for the fact that I lost about 7 minutes in this 'real time' movie, I thought it very entertaining. I had set my watch with all the clocks in the movie and there was a seven minute difference at the end. Oh well, Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken are great in this movie and the premise is very original: "Kill this lady or we kill your daughter." The lady in question he finds out after the fact is the governor of California. So basically he's being framed, a cam-corder watching his every move. It's a no-win situation, unless...7/10
The main thing bad about it...
posted on 22 Oct 2008...was the direction of the film. It was entirely laughable! You would have thought the guy woke up one morning and decided he wanted to be a director. Also, the overly dramatic music used in the serious scenes and fights made me want to laugh. And the acting done by some of the secondary characters was completely amateurish it was so bad. It just seemed like such a cheap and cheesily made movie. Perhaps the budget wasn't that big, but it's still no excuse for the poor script, terrible storyline and bad direction. There were only 2 good things about this movie: Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken. Other than that the film sucked. It needed a different director. 5/10
Well acted thriller
posted on 10 Oct 2008Nick of Time was a very enjoyable thriller in the Hitchcock tradition of an ordinary man caught up in an extraordinary situation. Depp and Walken are very authentic and entertaining in their roles and I was very interested in their fates. The staging in the hotel was very nicely executed by the director. Strongly recommended, 8/10.
Well Done Hitchcock Styled Thriller
posted on 08 Aug 2008I remember watching this movie several months back on TV and was pleasantly surprised. The directing is great, the characters are well developed and dynamic, and the acting is better than average.Johnny Depp returns to Los Angeles with his daughter (Courtney Watson). When he stops at the train station he discovers his daughter is missing and comes across Mr. Smith (Christopher Walken) and Ms. Jones (Roma Maffia). He is told he must assassinate Governor Grant (Marsha Mason) within an hour or his daughter will be killed.There are many interesting plot twists in this movie that kept me on the edge of my seat. Christopher Walken is perfectly cast as "Mr. Smith". He is always cast as the antagonist, and he always carries it out perfectly. Roma Maffia brings wry sarcastic comedy. And the rest of the actors shine in this under-rated thriller.If you catch this on TV, or can rent it, I recommend it to you. You won't be disappointed. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat for a good hour and a half or so.I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and hope I can catch it again sometime.Rating: 9/10
Unrealistic Thriller Not Worth Watching
posted on 09 Jun 2008Nick Of Time is only worth watching if you are a die hard fan of Johnny Depp and/or Christopher Walken. In my opinion, both these actors are highly over-rated, and their respective performances in this film is not close to either's best.Depp's character, who seems tough and smart at the beginning of the film quickly becomes stupid and weak. I guess we are to believe that because of his situation, he cannot think clearly. His daughter is kidnapped by Walken who tells him that he must kill a politician in order for her to live. Depp has numerous opportunities to save his daughter and take out Walken, but doesn't do so. You just want to smack Depp after a while for his stupidity. Walken...well...plays Walken as he always does. Personally, I feel this guy is riding on the success of The Deer Hunter; I've never seen him give another decent performance besides that movie. He plays the same part over and over again. A weird bad guy. Walken is a gimmick that Hollywood uses; stick him in any movie as a weird guy, usually a weird bad guy -- and you might get a few laughs from loyal weird-guy loving fans.In my opinion you will not enjoy this film unless you are a fan who is loyal to either Depp or Walken period. Rating 3 of 10 stars.
Marsha Mason's dynamic portrayal skews film from its purpose.
posted on 06 Jun 2008Here is an odd example where one excellent performance prevents the film from working due to the fact that noone else is up to her level. The premise here is that Nick is blackmailed to kill Governor Eleanor Grant (Marsha Mason). If he does not, his kidnapped child will be murdered.
Stupid premise! But the fact that Ms. Mason creates a thoroughly believable three dimensional character the audience cares about - and that Depp does not - skews the film from its purpose - that being - we should identify with Depp and his dilemma. We don't. We don't care a hoot about him or his child. We want Governor Grant to live. So, although we wait for each of her scenes with interest and tension, we WANT him to fail, because we only care about her. If anyone else had played the role, or if Depp had given a better performance, we might have had a balance and therefore been drawn into the film. He did not and we are not. Worth seeing to observe this unusual phenomenon. When an actress of this quality and talent can steal a film in a supporting role, why, we ask, isn't she still playing leads - like Meryl Streep. She should. We need her back on top.
Has some nice elements, but very flawed
posted on 13 Jul 2009The first time I saw this movie a couple of years ago I thought it was pretty good. Seeing it again I can't remember what I thought was good about it. There are some enjoyable things like Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken; it seems that everything these actors do has some joy in it. Another nice thing is that the movie plays in real time. The movie is ninety minutes long, and so is the story.Walken orders Depp to kill a woman, the governor of California (Marsha Mason), and to persuade him he and some others kidnap his little daughter. He is given a gun by Walken. He has ninety minutes to do so and we see that ninety minutes. My problem with this movie is the Walken character. Although he is enjoyable to watch, he pops up everywhere, only to serve the plot and make things harder for Depp. Help comes from Huey (Charles S. Dutton), how I will not reveal, but his qualities and handicaps are only there to serve the plot, again. There are some clever moments, I liked them, but I kept wondering things.Pretty early in the movie we learn that almost everybody is in the conspiracy to kill the woman, including members of the security. There must have been an easier way to kill this woman when security is on your side. I kept thinking about that, spoiling parts of the movie for me. Still, if you like Depp or Walken you might enjoy this since both are on screen almost the entire time.