Crime Time

OK, I agree it is not the great film it could have been, but we have to accept that the problem is not the film itself but the script. The film contains everything to be a hit: nice story, good plot and well done characters, even its soundtrack is excellent.

Some people say the problem is the lack of deep characters, but since when this art is made only with characters? most of them represent nothing but emotions, in other words, they are symbols the writer and the director use to say something...

The film is trying to establish an atmosphere of uncertainty; the big real problem is that the movie is trying to show too many different things, but it can not do so.

Watch it and then judge by yourself.

The basic idea for this movie was good, but there was no real character development and the pacing was slow. Maybe because I saw it in a sloppily edited, pan&scanned video version ? (It went straight to video in France.)

i'm not totally sure what to make of this film, it has a weird mix of actors, some classy and some not so. the good actors were unable to lift crimetime out of utter mediocrity, and in my humble opinion it was over long, and bordering on painfully tedious in some places. i stuck with it simply out of curiosity, having read the other reviews, but in all honesty i just feel cheated out of 2 hours of my life that will never come back. i think it is to be avoided at all costs, except for those wanting to enjoy looking at the oil slick that is stephen baldwin's hair, or the grotesque mask like appearance of karen black's face. 4/10 is the best i can do, and those points are probably all pete postlethwaite's, whom one can say, did his best in the face of adversity.

I remember seeing the trailer for 'Crimetime' back in the VHS days. I didn't bother watching it then, but the look combined with starring Stephen Baldwin, coming from dtv company Vidmark made me think it'll be a routine crime slasher. So imagine my surprise sitting down for it now,. Nearly two hour long runtime and also not the throwaway serial killer thriller I thought it would be.

Sidney (Pete Postlethwaite) kills a woman and the murder is made part of a sensationalized reality tv show called Crimetime who hires all too serious method actor Bobby Mahon (Baldwin) to play the role. It grabs Sidney's interest and gives Bobby a lift, but when the killings stop so does any sort of sick & twisted fame for both men. Sid resumes now solely to be famous and Bobby blurs the line between fantasy & reality losing himself to the role.

I'm in the minority of people who enjoyed what this had to say. Neither man is likable - one for obvious reasons, the other because he gets a big head - but the descent into delusions of grandeur worked. People being murdered capitalized on for money isn't done over the top or with a heavy hand trying to install some deep message. There's some silly moments, but they don't distract. The weakest portion is the failing relationship between Bobby and his actress girlfriend (Sadie Frost).

Oddly the most commonly available version of 'Crimetime' in North America has a 95 min runtime. I'm curious if this tighter version is a better film, but otherwise I was happy with what this 'original' cut did. Postlethwaite is a fine actor and does a good job of bringing a sick man to life. Stephen Baldwin is no thespian actor, but he makes the role work for him and actually shows some range. The idea of the media, tv, serial killers might be played out material past or present, but I liked this little film blemishes and all.

I liked this movie enough to buy it. I am not sure why other people see it as being such a terrible movie and screenplay.

I don't even like Stephen Baldwin, I should say that I am a huge Alec fan, but I thought he pulled this one off in some strange way. Sadie Frost was weak at times, but it wasn't really her sort of role to begin with. She is the reason I give this movie 9 stars instead of 10 stars. Pete P. was awesome as always. The script seemed fine to me. It has holes, but few don't. I am a writer, and have been working on a script of my own. Writing scripts has proved more difficult than writing the novel I have been working on.

The movie has its flaws, but few movies are flawless. It was enjoyable, entertaining, and I would recommend it to people who haven't seen it. Just my opinion.