Nick of Time

Nick of Time, directed by John Badman and produced by D.J. Caruso, was one of those films that, even though it was an hour and a half long, it did not seem to be that long. It took almost half an hour for the story to get going, though. The title sequence, a montage of close-ups of a gun being loaded and a clock working that turns into actual film sequences, was interesting, but reminded me of the title sequences of "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" and "Sweeny Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street", both of which Johnny Depp also stared in (although after Nick of Time). Now, I am a huge fan of Johnny Depp, but this was not the only similarity I saw to some of his other films. He did do a wonderful job portraying a father who is forced to become a killer, which is not a recurrent roll. However, we have seen him wear glasses before, and be a killer before. The father roll was a nice change, as he is a father himself.
I am confused however, as to when the film was supposed to take place. Made in 1995, the glasses Depp wears look like glasses that would have been worn in the 50's, and the hotels they filmed in, supposed to be the Westin Bonaventura Hotel, looked like they are trying to portray some kind of time frame between the 50s and 80s, which is confusing. Other elements, such as a hand held PDA that another character uses puts the film in a more modern setting.
It does take awhile for the entire plot to unfold. It takes almost an hour, to be exact, to find out who has really ordered the hit. I am glad that I did not see this film in theatres, because overall, it is not that great of a film. However, I am glad that I saw it because it is a character Depp has played that I have not seen before. I would not recommend you see it though, if you have something better to do.
So, until next time--