John Badham directs Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken and Charles S. Dutton in this real time thriller about an ordinary man whose daughter is kidnapped by a cabal who want him to kill a senator within 90 minutes. 

I remember this being a bit weak when it was released direct to video in my youth but over two decades the central hook was so strong (24 Series 1 managed to spin thrills and spills over a dozen episodes out of essentially the same premise), the two leads so intriguing and my own lack of faith in my teenager self’s judgement that I gave this another shot. Once again though, spotty, greasy, Oasis loving Bobby Carroll of days gone by was pretty astute. This is a waste of a brilliant concept producing, instead of a man pushed to the edge style Hitchcockian paranoia, entire quarter hours of Depp getting his shoes shined (twice) before pacing back and forth like a Type 1 security risk in the lobby of a decent hotel. The trap is so loose, so forgiving of his constant deviations, transgressions and backing out (Why 90 minutes for example? Why not a mere 15 to give him no wriggle room or time to deliberate?… PS I know the structural answer but seriously the conspirators have issued quite the length of rope for him to find his way out of this pit) that no tension is created. Beyond the fact that the film is quite a nice advert for the conference facilities of the Westin Hotel, are there any saving graces? Walken convinces as a man “who will make gravy of your little girl’s bones” even when he spends 90 minutes ignoring consistent provocations to do so, but I bet he convinces he is that type of guy when letting the gas meter man in to take a reading… we didn’t need this time waster to prove that. Depp however sleepwalks through it. Desperate family man is not part of his repertoire, any more than convincing Walken that his character needs at least one professional shoeshine an hour is.

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