User reviews

"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

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.

Rachel is a young woman married to a very rich older man, Holden Avery. However a night out with her friend Carla ends with a one night stand with Travis. Travis is working with Carla and they produce photographs of the two together. Travis tries to blackmail Rachel for $100,000 to destroy the photographs, but Carla is also working with Rachel in a bigger plot involving murder and double-crosses.

I didn't have high hopes for this due to it's unknown cast and the speed with which it reached TV. At the start it looked like another TV film with the same old plot, however it actually gets a bit cleverer than that and has some nice twists and turns, some you expect and some you don't. The clocks winding time back stuff allows us to jump back in forth in time every time a twist occurs - letting us see how the twist came about and a little back story or to see the same events from a different point of view. This is cleverly done but is nothing more than a fancy flashback tool. The twists get a bit silly after a while and aren't as credible the more the film goes on. It's a shame because it starts picking up momentum only to get too fast to be believable.

The unknown cast do a reasonable job, Kristin Minter is the best role (although I felt she was needless shot nude just to keep viewers interest). Megan Ward is not great, she is too tearful and scared at the start and too ruthless at the end, but she does OK. Ashby is also weak with a good ol' boy character. David Duke is one of the worst - not really doing anything with his character or lines. Ratzenberger (best known from Cheers) is good as a private eye but his scenes are often daft and this makes him look bad - for example he is following Rachel as she meets someone in a deserted parking lot, he parks 5 cars lengths away in the middle of an empty lot but doesn't get noticed! Most of his scenes have stupid mistakes like that, things that a real PI would never get away with.

Overall this is cleverer than I thought it would be. The "tick-tock" element makes the flashback idea more interesting, but the twists that are so good at first quickly get silly and a bit tiresome.

I caught this on the Lifetime Movie Network and watched it because Megan Ward of "General Hospital" was in it. It's a pretty clever story with the device of showing the actions of a certain character, then showing a clock moving backwards and showing the actions of another character leading up to the same point. The movie has quite a few interesting twists.

The acting isn't much, and obviously the budget wasn't very big - the biggest name here is David Dukes, who plays Ward's wealthy husband. He doesn't have much to do, and it's surprising that he took the role. Apparently this was a feature film, which I find hard to believe - maybe it went straight to video. It's a strictly TV cast, particularly Ward and Linden Ashby.

If you see it's on and you like mystery and suspense films, you'll probably like it. Or you might want to rent it because the sex stuff is cut on TV.

I caught this movie on Lifetime Movie Network. I really only watched it because it's opening screen was the Bakersfield street sign. As a new Bakersfield resident, I was fascinated to find out how many places I could recognize in this movie. Not much. But I do believe it captured some of the "Nashville West" culture, with the cowboys, the country-western bar, Tony Llama sign. It also shows that the typical "armpit of America" slam I sometimes hear about Bakersfield does not take into account the many affluent citizens who own high-dollar extravagant homes. As for the movie, it kept my attention until the end, which is rare in my case for TV. I enjoyed the ending, where the ditsy blond turned out to be cold as ice. And the kinky twist, how she was in love with her female friend was revealed as she shot her to death. Oh, and of course, you had to love the gory handcuff scene in the end! This must have been along the road somewhere heading to Kernville, along the Kern River. That's it, pretty good movie, a cold-blooded Thelma and Louise.

this movie had a great premise, but failed to develop it in an intelligent manner. the crazy time shifting was the main frustrating element. the best performance was given by the sly pi, and since he wasn't a central character - this gives you an indication of the films quality. the plot was developed so plainly, it was almost insulting to the intelligence - leaving nothing to the imagination. the time shifts were also guilty of this - leaving the viewer frustrated "get on with it!!!". a great movie for those who have trouble working out difficult plot construction - ie six year-olds, but the violence precludes this unfortunately.

This was a decent flick to watch at the beginning of a holiday weekend, just before getting ready to head-out. It was a "double-cross," followed by "double-cross," followed by "double-cross..." story, with flashbacks/re-playings of scenes, introduced by a backward-spinning clock face (with fancy Roman numerals, yet!!), sort of a "poor man's 'Roshomon'."

A lot of Lifetime movies have the psychotic, murderous neighbor or babysitter or student, etc., or a heroine dealing with a spouse with a secret pass, and/ or fleeing great danger. This story was a refreshing change in this regard. It had some holes, but was actually as good a mystery/thriller as some of the big-screen, mega-buck, "A"-list movies.

But it did, somewhat amusingly, have one quality which about 98 or 99% Lifetime presentations contain: the male characters were vacuous, clueless and possessed a level of intelligence far inferior to the ladies of the cast.

Anyway, the leads were attractive, and the two gals deliciously "bad," especially the one who was the prime author and leader of the devious undertakings.

I didn't recognize any of the thespians, except for John Ratzenberger, but apparently they have histories in some popular day- and night-time TV fare which weren't programs I ever watched.

All-in-all not the worst way to spend a couple of hours relaxing.

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

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 is a nifty, no nonsense thriller that starts out almost like Thelma & Louise and then veers sharply into darker territory. Megan Ward gets top billing but the movie is driven by a strong performance from Kristin Minter (E.R.) as a bad, bad girl. The plot is the usual tangle of cross and double cross that typifies the genre, but director/writer Kevin Tenney keeps the audience on its toes with some clever editing that yanks the viewer around in the timeline and shows events from the viewpoint of different characters. There's plenty of blood and violence and some dark humor. There's also an unexpected and quite gratuitous nude scene by Kristin Minter but, hey, who's complaining. Worth a look.

When I started watching this movie on TV, my first thought was, "Never heard of any of these cast members." However, I realized that at one time Bogart, John Wayne, Tom Hanks, and Sean Connery had not been heard of either, so I was patient.

What a densely woven plot! What intrigue and double-crossing. I would not believe anyone who told me he or she figured out the ending ahead of time.

And what lovely actresses. They could energize a dull movie pretty quickly, and in this lively movie they were something else!

I would watch this one again, and try to figure out all the nuances, because there are plenty of them!

We stumbled across this movie on TV whilst on holiday in Croatia and watched enthralled as it developed. It's like watching a car crash: you feel awful for the people involved but you still can't tear yourself away.

It's as if the script writer kept attempting to put in ever more unbelievable plot twists all the while thinking "they'll never go for this... or will they...?". The only thing that really annoyed us was the fact that Holden's body managed to extricate itself from the car boot with no help or explanantion.

All in all this film made me appreciate the fact that as British TV has improved, there's now less room for this kind of risible American nonsense - and perhaps we're the poorer for it.

The only reason I watched this film was because of Megan Ward but I'm glad I did. The film is good to pass the time I like these types of flicks. I think it can be compared to 'Wild Things' its got a ton of plot twists and some twisted humor.

Well worth the watch. The cast is good as it needs to be with the two female leads doing well. All the film needed was an actual 'scary' bad guy figure none the actors came across that way.

I found the film to be pleasingly acted and very well crafted. It seems to set out as an old fashioned "who dunnit, mystery plot, blackmail plot,etc" but with very modern twists. The director really hit the mark. The ending was excellent, in its own right, understated, but still able to put its point across towards its audience.

To start off with my review on this flick I will say that if anyone is expecting an awesome cutting edge thriller then pass on my review. But if you have an open mind when it comes to direct-to-video flicks then read on. Now "Tick Tock" is actually not too bad of a thriller. Getting a pretty face like Megan Ward doesn't hurt at all. The movie does start off slow and it may not catch your interest, but hey it is only for the first about 15-20 minutes. Then when Megan Ward and pal are at the bar and a "cowboy" walks over to them to chat, the first thing Melrose Place viewers will do is laugh because for those of us who watched MP, Megan Ward played Connie and Linden Ashby played Dr. Bret Cooper "Coop" at the hospital, he plays this "cowboy" Travis. Anyhow, the director of this flick makes you think "what the?" when after certain things happen, the clock turns back and we see an in depth type of view of a character which will explain why a certain thing has happening at points in the story. This happens throughout the flick and definitely kept me interested. John Ratzenberger, Cliff from Cheers, is in this and he plays his small role actually good as a P.I. And David Dukes plays the rich husband,Holden,of Megan Ward's character Rachel. The plot is Rachel and Carla are planning to kill Holden and from there the story has lots of twists and turns. Even her husband has a certain plan. So everyone in the movie crosses paths one time or another in this movie and it is really cool how it is done. Sort of like 2 Days In The Valley. The cast is small and that is good so you will keep on getting into this story as each character is not what you think they are. The poorest acting out of this is done by Kristin Minter. Her acting is sub par compared to Megan Ward's and I think Megan is under rated. Was she not good in Encino Man? All in all this is a good thriller/mystery movie but the ending will make you say "what kind of ending is this?" I guess the director just couldn't come up with a great ending, but then direct to video movies/B-movies usually end that way. Oh and yes the usual lesbian type scene is in there. Megan and Kristin both share a kiss, where else, in the women's washroom at the bar. Megan Ward is sexy and maybe she will start to do some more of these types of flicks like Kari Wuhrer. 5 out of 10.

I thought of watching a boring movie without any meaning and with a bad story. No way! It has been great! Very intriguing plot, very well developed, good acting and directing. A really wonderful surprise!

Full of suspense, tension and... many times I thought that I clearly got it, but then I always realized that I was wrong and so eager to know... what will happen then? Who was who? Who really knew? Obviously after a while I had the answers, but then again a new situation and all of this until the end that was really unexpected.

I'm not going to say anything else, as I want that you would discover all the shades, shadows and clues, so no spoiler, just few words to push you to give a look to this quite unknown tv movie, but much better than others more considered known movies. Hope that many people will be able to see it and hopefully enjoyed it as I did.

Recommended, 9 stars... maybe too many, but it deserves a better score than it currently has.

I flicked on to this movie at about 2 a.m. this morning.

I read the brief overview and thought it warranted closer attention. The reviewer had used the phrase 'gripping thriller'.

The only regret I have about this movie is that is was shown so late at night / early in the morning. Definitely a 9 p.m. showing.

The clock-thing puzzled me but I realized that this was an innovative way of showing a scene from a different person's perspective.

Lots of nice touches and details punctuate the story, especially the final scene.

I won't try to categorize it - it falls into a miscellaneous category of movie. It's not a Citizen Kane, but it's definitely not a B-Movie either.

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.