Ticking Clock

***SPOILERS*** Both confusing and dreadful film that incorporates science fiction like the movie "Frenquincy" into a psycho serial murderer movie like "Se7an" and comes out looking like neither one of them. You have to give Cuba Gooding Jr as investigative reporter Lewis Hicks credit in him being able to keep a straight face in all the scenes he's in the movie. I can just imagine how many takes to took Gooding to achieve that which should have at least gotten him, even though their not haded out until the spring of 2012, an Acdemey Award nomination if not the Award itself for best actor of the year 2011. The story itself,psycho on the loose in the big city, is really nothing new here but there's this twist added in that makes the film at least watchable. That's to find out if the mad dog leather clothed killer in the movie Keech, Neal McDonough, accomplishes his mission that he's planned for at least 30 years since his birth. The fact that Keech in 2011 seems to be out of place in the world that he's in makes you wounder if he's not really a human being at all but an alien from outer space. ***SPOILERS*** Hicks does get the drop on Keech when he investigates the orphanage that 11 year old James, no last name, played by Austin Abrams is confined to. Both Keech and young Austin seem have this strange connection,in their DNA, to a string of brutal murders that's been committed around town. Those that were murdered besides what seems like James mom, Erica Bardin, as well as school teacher Vicki Ihrling, Adrianne Frost, and news reporter Felica Carson, Veronica Berry, had some influence on James' life that wasn't at all good. The big mystery in the movie which if you put two and two together wasn't that much of a mystery at all is what exactly did Keech have to do with James in the first place! We as well as Lewis Hicks get the big surprise or answer well before the movie ends. Which makes the ending, in young James putting an end to all this insanity, about as predictable as the Chicago Cubs, who haven't won one in over 100 years, not winning the 2012 World Series.

The "good" guy Cuba Jr does every single thing in the dumbest way possible in this. He's a investigative journalist, so he pretty much knows how the police works, yet one cop has some of problem with him, yet he won't go to the press or to IA. He does everything in the book to make himself seem guilty

Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a boozing reporter who took for granted his ex spouse as well as his son who he misses weekend visits with because he's always onto the next biggest scoop. If his personal relationships could hit rock bottom any further, his current girlfriend ends up dead at the hands of a serial killer. Hicks shows up at her place after the fact but chases down the culprit and gets knocked out in an alleyway. He finds a diary with names and dates for more killings to come. The lead detective investigating the case has something against him from a slate in a past story and won't listen to what he's telling him now. Now Hicks feels it's his obligation to take on the investigation himself for redemption in his own life. The victims all have in common a troubled little boy at an orphanage who had more things happen to him at an early age than most can call claim to. Hicks starts to get too close and as a result the evidence starts to point to him instead of the real killer who always slips in and out without anyone else seeing. From then on out it turns into a cat and mouse game of good vs evil before more victims' lives are claimed. The "big" twist in "Ticking Clock" is more related to science fiction than an action or thriller, and causes you to suspend your disbelief and except the facts at face value. This direct-to-video feature comes across like a scraped episode for "Millennium," with a similar, strange tone of drama and horror, where everything is baked in shadows, panned to get atmosphere, time stamped and generates tragic piano pieces to build mood. Though a share of the dialogue doesn't feel practiced, the suspense feels like false theatrics and the "acting" feels done on the first or second take, not to mention it has sentiment slipped in and can feel melodramatic without chemistry of the cast to back that up. This also attempts to be snide and sarcastic but the interaction between the actors can feel just as forced at times. The most important aspects this picture asks are: Is someone really able to get a second chance out of life? Is it possible to correct mistakes in the past? Is one able to put right what went wrong? Though, correcting one thing can cause another to have to be adjusted and so on until things are a mess all over again. Though answering those questions can be done without having to jump through hoops to get there by watching a film that feels quickly put together. Here's another question: If the filmmakers don't have both their feet in this, then how can they expect the viewer to? (Also submitted on http://fromblacktoredfilmreviews.blogspot.com/)

There are some amateurish takes at the beginning where fight scenes are glaringly fake; we know they are but it should not be so obvious. The story has, at its core, a murderer who can travel in time but the time travel itself appears to have been written in as an afterthought and it's mentioned only incidentally. The movie's 101 minutes may not have allowed more time be spent on such trivial thing as time travel. Think about that; perhaps you better not. If it weren't for Neal McDonough and Cuba Gooding's participation I would not have bothered watching. Usually McDonough is the believable villain and Cuba G.Jr. is too sympathetic not to like and they were both that. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and I'm sorry I can't get back those 101 minutes. I'm still trying in vain to come up with something factual and positive to say; I'm usually criticised for being too wordy, verbose even and yet I can't manage anything positive. I'll tell you why. Make a movie about the bible and leave out the part about the 10 commandments, see how that turns out.

What a load of crap, I had to turn this off about a half hour into it. The script was crap, the acting was crap. What a waste of film. This will be the last Cuba Gooding movie I watch. If this is the best he can do now he may as well get a job at Home Depot or Walmart. What a waste of a promising career, his projects have bee going from bad to worse and this by far is the worst I've seen. How does a person go from an Academy Award to this, is it bad management, poor project selection or no input or interest in his own career. Where is the Cuba Gooding that acted in A Murder of Crows, bring back the Cuba and maybe he'd get some better roles. What a shame.

I just want to be entertained and i'm easy to please. I don't even see most of the flaws in a movie reviewers will typically mention. But only a few minutes into this and I was asking - can I stand to watch a movie where the main character is so unbelievably stupid? Can anyone act against their own self0interest so consistently? For that matter can the police really be as stupid and sloppy as this about what he tells them? Fortunately this settles down some after a bit, but it's actually the number one problem I have here. Otherwise I liked it. Could have done without the excessive clues to the "twist" ending though. It's not not the sort of twist one expects in a crime film so it could have been played for a major, "whaaaaa?" effect, but they tossed that chance away.

Not a bad movie, a polish on the script would have helped this and maybe even made this a blockbuster - rather than a straight to DVD release. The writing for the cops and the first investigation of a murder scene was really poorly scripted. It must be obvious that the writer has little knowledge of police interrogation and kinda missed the entire personal emotions for it. That aside, building it up could have been done better, but still I think that the story was alright. It certainly is no Back To The Future or Terminator

On 20 February 1999, a killer (Neal McDonough) slaughters a woman in a bathtub and takes her baby with him. On 17 April 2011 the life of the investigative reporter Lewis Hicks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a mess: he misses his son and his wife, from whom he is separated; he is stalled trying to write a book about murders; he has refused a position of assistant professor in the university; and his relationship with the assistant DA Felicia Carson (Veronica Berry) is not working well. After an argument with Felicia, Lewis buys a bottle of wine and visits her to apologize. However, he finds Felicia brutally murdered on her bed and the blond criminal in the crime scene. Lewis chases the killer, but he surprisingly escapes in an alley, vanishing in a corner. The stranger has dropped his journal on the alley and Lewis finds the diary and discovers that the man has planned several murders of women on the next following days. He holds the information from the police and asks his friend lieutenant Gordon "Gordo" Becker (Dane Rhodes) to investigate the fingerprints in a piece of newspaper and he finds that they belong to the teenager James (Austin Abrams), and orphan that lives in the Trinity Home for Boys. Further, the piece of the jacket of the killer is made of an unknown material. When Lewis unsuccessfully tries to save the next victim, he finds evidences that the killer and James is the same person. But the police led by the resented detective Ed Beker (Yancey Arias) believe that Lewis is the criminal and are chasing him. "Ticking Clock" is a flawed film with a story with great potential and also full of inconsistencies but paradoxically is also an enjoyable B-movie. The screenplay deserved a better development and the character Lewis Hicks takes the worst attitude for each situation. But using the words of Lewis Hicks, time traveling is complex and the best thing to do is do not think in the plot holes and you may have a good entertainment. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Lutando Contra o Tempo" ("Fighting Against Time")

TICKING CLOCK is a shabby straight to video serial killer thriller in which a slumming-it Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a reporter investigating the journal of a crazed killer, played with customary relish by Neal McDonough. As the story gets more complex and Gooding Jr. befriends a twisted young boy who has an unusual link to the crimes, things take on a sci-fi twist that reminded me a little of the ones in FREQUENCY or DEJA VU. Sadly, this is a criminally low budget production, shot in a shabby and gloomy style, that merely comes across as depressing and bereft of ideas.

Wow!!! What a Great story...too bad it is all I can say on it's behalf...very poor casting...lacking in color...intriguing; brings you to the end...not a movie I would keep in my library...I wonder if a Nicholas Cage or a Bruce Willis could of punched out the film...I believe so...Sorry Cuba...Not great...But an Excellent Story... Neil stole the lead role here and even there it was poor...I feel as though I was watching a B movie and was constantly waiting for a moment where I would of been surprised...did not happened...the surprise for me was not in the actual movie...but in the story...which is too bad because it is a great story...and had potential to be a great movie...