THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511220072
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
AS A THRILLER, ``Nick of Time'' moves so fast and so seamlessly, you hardly have time to notice how absurd it really is. Instead, director John Badham takes an unlikely scenario and speeds it up to create a good ride.
Johnny Depp plays an accountant who is chosen at random to be the fall guy in a political assassination. Depp brings a sufficient amount of levity and maturity to the role of Gene Watson - an Everyman thrown into dangerous, unlikely circumstances. It's a clear departure from his offbeat stuff, and effectively suggests he will mature gracefully on screen.
His straight-faced performance, though, is not enough to persuade us to buy this yarn. Weird Christopher Walken is the head assassin who chooses Depp from a crowd at Los Angeles' Union Station to murder the governor of California (Marsha Mason). If he refuses, they will kill his wee daughter.
It is all filmed in ``real time,'' which is to say the 90-minute movie takes place during 90 actual minutes. This is interesting, but, again, hardly enough to make us accept that trained assassins would take the chances they take here.
Charles S. Dutton is very good as a near-deaf shoeshine man who helps poor Watson. Mason, a four-time Oscar nominee, has little to do except wave and provide a target. Young Courtney Chase is less offensive than most child actors.
It doesn't help that Badham stops his film abruptly to throw in a silly sequence about an attempted killing and its wildly improbable aftermath.
``Nick of Time'' is a little, over-the-top melodrama that serves more to prove Depp's versatility than to serve as a showcase. While it can't be taken too seriously, it is a fast ride.
A S A THRILLER, ``Nick of Time'' moves so fast and so seamlessly, you hardly have time to notice how absurd it really is. Instead, director John Badham takes an unlikely scenario and speeds it up to create a good ride.
Johnny Depp plays an accountant who is chosen at random to be the fall guy in a political assassination. Depp brings a sufficient amount of levity and maturity to the role of Gene Watson - an Everyman thrown into dangerous, unlikely circumstances. It's a clear departure from his offbeat stuff, and effectively suggests he will mature gracefully on screen.
His straight-faced performance, though, is not enough to persuade us to buy this yarn. Weird Christopher Walken is the head assassin who chooses Depp from a crowd at Los Angeles' Union Station to murder the governor of California (Marsha Mason). If he refuses, they will kill his wee daughter.
It is all filmed in ``real time,'' which is to say the 90-minute movie takes place during 90 actual minutes. This is interesting, but, again, hardly enough to make us accept that trained assassins would take the chances they take here.
Charles S. Dutton is very good as a near-deaf shoeshine man who helps poor Watson. Mason, a four-time Oscar nominee, has little to do except wave and provide a target. Young Courtney Chase is less offensive than most child actors.
It doesn't help that Badham stops his film abruptly to throw in a silly sequence about an attempted killing and its wildly improbable aftermath.
``Nick of Time'' is a little, over-the-top melodrama that serves more to prove Depp's versatility than to serve as a showcase. While it can't be taken too seriously, it is a fast ride. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
PARAMOUNT
Johnny Depp has been ordered to assassinate Marsha Mason in the
action-thriller ``Nick of Time.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Nick of Time''
Cast: Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Marsha Mason, Charles S.
Dutton, MPAA rating: R (violence, language)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square, Greenbrier in Chesapeake; Janaf,
Main Gate in Norfolk; Lynnhaven, R/C Columbus, Surf-N-Sand in
Virginia Beach
by CNB