Ticking Clock [DVD] [2011]

About five minutes into the film, I came up with a brilliant theory. One of the characters asks Cuba Gooding Jr. how his book is getting on and he says that it's very hard. This is just after he's talked about how he tries not to let the serial killers into his head. "Ho ho, " think I, "This is one of those `the killer is really me' films, where Cuba has gone secretly mad and is always on the scene of the latest killing because he is the killer. The killer is almost the exact opposite of Cuba, hopefully I am not being racist when I note that the killer is white where Cuba is black (for example, his hair) and in fact if you were to make a negative of the artist's impression, it might look completely like Cuba. In fact that will be the film's chilling `see, it IS you' moment. And his book will be that journal". Regrettably, exciting though this theory was, it was replaced with a sinking feeling that they might be going for a different explanation. Which they did. The pity of it was that it could have been a good movie. The killer was pretty well played, although I did keep confusing him with Malcolm McDowell and therefore spent a lot of time wondering why he wasn't better. Cuba was pretty good, although I expected better of him. The actual explanation though was a total farce. It seemed completely disconnected with the entire movie. If there had been something slightly jokey or perhaps outer worldly about it, the two halves might have fit together, but the writer was going for really dark, tragic and mysterious and then this ludicrous solution was just chucked in there.

Other people might enjoy it though. A colleague of mine listened to my synopsis of "Buried" and of this film, and then said that at least this movie was trying to be fictional, whereas if you can get a signal on your mobile, you can be tracked. Period. So there we go, one person already thinks this is better than "Buried". I'd class it as a Sunday afternoon movie rather than a Friday night one.

When I saw the leaner meaner looking Cuba Gooding in this role I thought that he was at last picking himself up again but I'm afraid it is not to be so. Here he plays an investigative reporter down on his luck who is over the side and out of favour with the local police after exposing their inefficiency. One evening he goes to the house of his girlfriend only to find her slaughtered on the bed and to see the suspect fleeing. He gives chase and tackles him only to lose the fight and the suspect chillingly played by Neal McDonough. When he returns to the last place he saw him he finds the killer's journal that indicates that he plans to kill two more women within the next few days. I'm sure you've already seen it coming, he becomes the suspect as he tries to prevent the murders etc etc. AS the official review mentions, the evidence seems to lead to a nine year old boy and that's where the twist comes. Unfortunately you will figure out long before the hero does. The denouement is pretty obvious too and the ending completely twee. The transfer to blu ray is excellent despite everything being shot in muted almost sepia tones and the audio track makes good use of the soundfield. Finally its anamorphic widescreen so you get a whole telly full of movie.

it was nothing special and the ending was disappointing.The main story is quite good but once you get to the end and you find out how everything happened you feel let down.