A Hora de Revidar

In A Time To Die, Traci Lords proves that she's more than a rocking bod, long blonde tresses, a bee-sting pout, and a willingness to please: she can act too. Unfortunately, her efforts go to waste, the film being a tepid piece of forgettable '90s straight-to-video trash that makes one wish that Traci hadn't gone all respectable (no sign of any T&A here, folks, at least not from Traci).

Traci plays Jackie, photographer and mother, whose wrongful arrest for possession of drugs (it was her model's) resulted in her losing custody of her son. When Jackie photographs corrupt, cocaine-snorting cop Lt. Eddie Martin (Robert Miano) committing murder, she sees an opportunity to get her kid back, using the pictures as a bargaining tool. In doing so, she puts her life in danger.

With much of the film dedicated to Jackie's romance with lawman Frank (Jeff Conaway), this weak movie is more daytime soap than edgy thriller. Director Charles T. Kanganis lifeless execution means that the film drags from one dull scene to another, and even a surfeit of cheesy '90s style (smoke and blue light) cannot hide the fact that this one is a stinker. The final act, in which Jackie gets trigger happy, livens things up a bit, although Frank's sudden character arc is a little tough to swallow.

3.5 out of 10, rounded down to 3 for a truly terrible turn by Gino Dentie as angry pimp Jinx.

"Jackie" (Traci Lords) is a photographer who was recently convicted for possession of cocaine and as a result was required to spend 400 hours of community service at the police station. To make things even worse, she also lost custody of her young son "Kevin" (Jesse Thomas) in a subsequent divorce proceeding. It's during this time that she meets a police detective by the name of "Frank" (Jeff Conaway) who is also divorced and because of their similar situation become romantically involved to a certain extent. Unfortunately, things become much worse for Jackie when she photographs a police lieutenant named "Eddie" (Robert Miano) in the act of murder and now she becomes a target as well. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film had some solid actors for the most part but the plot got bogged down rather quickly and didn't really regain any traction for most of its duration. Admittedly, Traci Lords performed adequately but even so she wasn't able to enliven this rather dull film on her own and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

This had a lot going for it, but the poor writing totally blew it. The pacing was all wrong and the central conflict of the story was left unexplained (why was Traci Lords' character framed to begin with?).

The first 20 minutes (after the initial opening scene) are an absolute drag. The plot barely advances, while the movie wastes time on irrelevant details. Lords and Roundtree do their best given the material, but can't save it.

Don't get me wrong: I love low-budget movies and I'm not expecting anything elaborate here. But you need a solid foundation: a good story and a screenplay that proceeds logically. Sadly this writer/director failed to deliver.

Traci Lords (who as horrible as she is can still out act Sharon Stone almost any day of the week) is Jackie, a photographer who finds herself being framed for possession of coke by a cop on the take. So she reluctantly teams up with another cop (Jeff Conway, whom his role in Taxi grows more and more ironic throughout the years) to clear her name. This movie is the definition of bad. Horrible acting, totally inept dialog, idiotic action sequences, and a script from Charles Kanganis all collide to make this travesty a must miss. Oh and Jackie has one of the most annoying kids this side of "Problem Child" and Richard Roundtree also has a small part as a police captain (yes the early 90's were a horrid half decade for Shaft).

Eye Candy: Nitchie Barrett gives the only two reasons to even think of subjecting yourself to this, but sadly nothing close to what she showed in "Preppies"

Where I saw it: Showtime Extreme

My Grade: F

When it comes to direct to video, 99 out of a hundred are disasters, but every once in awhile, something entertaining surfaces from the video muck. Such a film is "A Time To Die". The film is far from perfect, needing much tighter editing, in the first half especially regarding Lord's and Conway's pseudo romance. Portions with Lord's Son play like daytime drama, and these diversions drag considerably. Nevertheless, when things get going in the second half, there is action, some crisper editing, and the pace picks up nicely. The acting is totally acceptable for a B movie, along with some rather pleasing night photography. The film has very little nudity, and zero for Tracy Lords, perhaps leading to the low IMDB rating. The movie eventually twists into a totally unpredictable whopper ending. Recommended of it's type. - MERK