A Chantagem

The many time shifts reminded me of the book "Slaughterhouse Five", by Kurt Vonnegut, but this movie was not as confusing as that book. Using those time shifts into the past in order to reveal some plot twists kept it interesting. Showing the spinning hands of a clock in order to alert the viewer of the upcoming time shifts did get old though. Carla's (played by Kristin Minter) constantly repeated comment "this will be better than what we planned" (or some variation thereof), which she used whenever things went wrong, also got old quickly.

John Ratzenberger's performance as P.I. Clay Fairfield, was refreshing in a non-Cliff Clavin role.

I must have missed something, but can anyone e-mail me to tell me how the body got out of the trunk about 3/4 of the way through the movie? (when shortly after that, Rachel Avery found it laying alongside the road).

This film is so confusing, you don't know who is going with who and eventually you don't really care. There is some interesting casting in this. Megan Ward a dumb blond, Kristen Minter a ruthless bitch and Linden Ashby as the guy in the middle who sleeps with both on their off nights. By the way Ashby is a dead ringer for Chris Potter, also a LMN favorite. Then we have David Dukes wasted, John Ratzenberger wasted in thankless roles. It was such a mix up of plot, focus and intentions. What is the screenwriter trying to say? My favorite part was when the blond bimbo shot the bitch. I cheered for she was that horrible. Ending was silly and ridiculous. No vote on this trite.

Viewed this film which was called "A Friendship to Die For", and through out the entire picture you noticed a clock in quite a few scenes and I wondered why, now I find out the picture was really called "Tick Tock" and it makes more sense. There seemed to always be a rush against the clock in this film about two females who were great friends and had a wonderful deep love for each other which was boiling over and over. Megan Ward, (Rachel Avery), "Mirror Man",'03 and Kristin Minter,(Carla),"Pissed",'05 were the two lovers who had a clever plan and a poor sucker of a guy gets roped into all kinds of situations. There is a private detective who drives around a beat up piece of junk something like a "Colombo" style vehicle only Worse. All kinds of murders happen and bodies are transported here and there. You will simply love the ending, which I thought was simply Great. Enjoy

I have to accept that this movie got my attention because Megan Ward was in it. Otherwise, I am sure I would not watch it. Luckily, I did, and let me tell you what I found.

From the beginning to the end, the movie maintains the suspense by revealing the plot gradually from different characters' standpoints. Therefore, you do not have the whole history until the director goes back in time and presents what happened from other character's viewpoint, which is necessary to be known to explain the story. Additionally, characters' motives are not so clear, giving the movie another conflict factor. I liked this way of developing the story as well as some transitions from one scene to another using a common object to both.

Respect to the story itself, it begins with M. Ward (Rachel) and D. Dukes (Holden) having sex. After that, he tells her he will be out for a couple of days to visit her daughter Anne (H. Burress) and he goes to take a shower. Then, Rachel calls her friend Carla (K. Minter) and they talk about doing something together; but Rachel is not sure. Later, Rachel drops Holden at the airport where he (knowing she talked with Carla) tells her to not spend time with Carla because she is a bad influence. From there, the story complicates when Rachel and Carla meet at a bar and casually get in touch with Travis (L. Ashby.)

Talking about the negatives, cast performance is not the best (but I expect that) and I did not like how the writer justified certain characters' conducts, although I believe it is probably me. Overall, I give this movie a solid six (6) using IMDB's user ratings as scale.

"Tick Tock". is an excellent example of a film where less would have been best. What are obviously intended be taken as ultra clever plot twists eventually become so unbelievable that their impact is lost. Flipping back and forth in time is another distraction, and eventually the entire movie becomes "so what", due to the plot contrivances. Acting by Megan Ward, Kristin Minter, and Linden Ashby is acceptable, while David Dukes is superior. Don't get me wrong, the film is totally watchable, and if some of the plot twists that were piled on, were toned down or eliminated, this would be a neat little thriller. There is full frontal nudity, several attempts at dark humor that seem way out of place, and an unexpected ending that helps somewhat. MERK