The Killing Time

Having just watched another Kiefer Sutherland good movie (Truth or Consequences N.M.), I found "The Killing Time" almost equal. True the end was probably as predictable as ever, but getting there was as twisty as a California coastal road. Michael Madsen kind of disappeared, and that was somewhat disappointing. The character development was very good, the acting was fine also. I found the enjoyment level better than some of Quentin Tarantino's supposed classics. It is no "Fargo" but has that kind of feel to it. You could do much worse for an evenings entertainment. I give "The Killing Time" a solid 6.5 stars. - MERK

Kiefer Sutherland is an unknown killer, who comes to a peaceful coastal town pretending to be the new deputy sheriff. He starts working with Sam Wayburn (the expressionless Beau Bridges) and Carl Cunningham (Joe Don Baker), who is going to retire. Sam is in love with his high school sweetheart Laura Winslow (Camelia Kath), who is married with a powerful and wealth man, Jake Winslow (Wayne Rogers). Sam and Laura decides to kill Jake and put the blame on the new comer, but things will not work as planned. This movie is not totally bad, although full of clichés and very predictable. The situations are easily resolved and the plot is neither moralist nor amoral: it is shallow. Maybe in the hands of the Cohen brothers or other good director, it could be a great movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Tempo de Vingança" ("Time of Revenge")

we bought this movie, as a second-hand copy, and first thing to strike us, was that we didn't have to turn up the sound, and talking bout sound, this score is one of the best we have heard, if score means coordinatiniton with the scenes in motion. the scenes too were artistically cut, to the score. we strongly recommend this copy to be copied by serious distributors for the future. unlike recent releases like matrix and others one can actually see and mostly hear this movie on and on. the screenplay is predictable, and a copy of an old perry mason episode. reference: new world international, danish copy by filmlab no 7736.

This one could have been better. The scenario works, the good cop not being totally good and the bad guy not entirely bad. Beau Bridges does a reliable job and Kiefer Sutherland even works to do a role out of the ordinary kiefer. However, the director ruins everything. The result is boring beyond limits. All the suspense comes from the screenplay and the final is totally flat. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a movie where screenplay and direction differ in quality as clearly as in this one.

Above all, I mean the opening and ending scenes, which could be different: the first killed a lot of thrill for subsequent events, the latter was too abrupt and short. The tensions are also not maintained high throughout the movie and events connected to the past remain vague and uncompleted. Dramatic scenes end as suddenly as they begin and do often not provide additional value to the movie; the plot does not run smoothly, the scenes are rather "minced".

But performances are good (Bridges, Baker, Kath) or great (Sutherland, Rogers); Madsen could have played a bigger part. The Killing Time fits quite well into its title, especially if you like something happening in a quiet American town, without constant chases and bursts.