Rainey Dawn Johnny Depp is Gene Watson. Gene is a man with a good career, a wife he's divorcing and a daughter, Lynn, he loves dearly. Everything was fine until Gene was approached by Mr. Smith (Walken) and Ms. Jones (Maffia) - a 'couple' with a hard bargain for Gene: Your daughter is kidnapped, you have to kill California governor Eleanor Grant in 90 minutes or less, or Lynn will die.The film starts out a bit slow but it builds into a suspenseful thriller. Not my favorite Depp or Walken film but a good watch from time to time.6/10

seymourblack-1 Just like many of the old B-movies, this fast, exciting and often tense thriller makes a big impact by delivering its story with great economy and style. The circumstances under which an ordinary man finds himself embroiled in a political assassination plot, unfold very quickly and from that point on, his desperation, fear and confusion are both obvious and understandable. Audiences naturally warm to characters who are extremely average and through no fault of their own, find themselves thrust into dangerous circumstances where they're completely out of their depth. In "Nick Of Time", the combination of just such a character, circumstances that seem to offer him no way out and the need to conform to an extremely tight deadline, all create plenty of intrigue and suspense which is ratcheted up even further by the action being presented in real-time.Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) is a recently-widowed accountant who arrives at Union Station in L.A. with his 6-year-old daughter Lynn (Courtney Chase) and is spotted by a man and a woman who approach him claiming to be police officers. After ushering him to their nearby van, the very threatening Mr Smith (Christopher Walken) instructs Gene to kill the Governor of California, Eleanor Grant (Marsha Mason) by 1.30pm that afternoon or he will kill Lynn who is held in the back of the van by the sinister-looking Ms Jones (Roma Maffia). Smith gives Gene a gun, a photograph of the Governor and a copy of her schedule for the day and Gene, unable to think of any way out of this nightmare, makes his way to the Bonaventure Hotel where the Governor's due to give a speech as part of her re-election campaign.On numerous occasions , Gene attempts to tell people such as a taxi driver, a cop and anyone he thinks might be able to help, about the plot but Mr Smith always suddenly appears at the critical moment to prevent him from doing so and to reiterate his threat to kill Lynn. Despite this, Gene eventually manages to convince a young campaign worker called Krista Brooks (Gloria Reuben) of his sincerity but when she's killed in shocking circumstances, he realises that an awful lot of people are involved in the conspiracy including many of those who are close to the Governor and those who are responsible for her protection.With time running out and his anxiety increasing by the minute, Gene makes his most meaningful breakthrough when he conscripts the help of Huey (Charles S Dutton) who's the hotel shoeshine man. This one-legged Vietnam veteran enlists the co-operation of the other staff in the hotel to enable Gene to alert the Governor to the danger she's in before she's due to make her speech. A shootout follows in the ballroom where Governor Grant is due to speak and Huey uses his initiative to good effect to delay Ms Jones from harming Lynn before the story reaches its surprising conclusion.It's really interesting to see Johnny Depp in a role where his character doesn't have numerous eccentricities and his understated portrayal of Gene Watson is both skillful and effective. Christopher Walken is always superb in menacing roles and his work in this movie is no exception.Gene Watson's predicament creates great natural anxiety and this is intensified further by Mr Smith's ubiquity and the numerous shots of clocks and watches which are a constant reminder of how little time is left. The fact that so many people are involved in the assassination plot introduces an element of paranoia into the action and the fact that Gene is being watched all the time and is unable to leave the hotel makes the whole atmosphere incredibly claustrophobic. "Nick Of Time" is essentially a very modest undertaking but one which creditably achieves what it set out to do.

thesar-2 Previously, when initially released in 1995 and in years following, I was a huge fan of Nick of Time. I had loved Johnny Depp's straight man performance, even though in 1995, he hadn't gone all crazy-role just yet.It's been probably well over a decade since I've last seen this movie and back in the 1990s, I had seen it multiple times. Today, it somewhat holds up.I still like Johnny in a non-looney role – ironically, I think he's trying too over-the-top for his past decade roles in order to be original, and yet, it might actually be original for him to return to this kind of character. I also appreciate Christopher Walken in pretty much anything, including this and always have liked Roma Maffia. I dig that chick.The movie cannot be taken seriously and you might enjoy it a little more. I don't think they were trying for anything too heavy and as a short and tight thriller with actual decent performances (not mentioned above, but still good, was shoe-shinning Charles S. Dutton,) it's entertaining.Pre-24 days, everyday man, Gene (Depp,) travels via train with his daughter when they're approached and coerced into assassinating the Governor at a nearby hotel and rally. Basically, and the plot is basic, two parties, Walken's Mr. Smith and Maffia's Mrs. Smith are watching Gene and his daughter, respectively and separately. Gene can't go to the police because bad man Mr. Smith's got eyes everywhere and his daughter is unaware she's in danger.Oh, and he's got 90 minutes to get close to and kill the Governor, or his daughter dies. Probably him, too.On the surface – or from a distance, the premise seems exciting and thrilling. And for the most part, the ingeniousness of Gene to handle something, including a gun, that he's never had to before, was pretty entertaining. But, once watched, it does show a little bit of B-movie qualities that reminds us again: don't take this seriously.Sure, I recommend it, but if I watched it for the first time today, I probably wouldn't have seen it the many times I did back in the 1990s.

Desertman84 The clock is ticking for Johnny Depp in Nick of Time, a twist-filled, race-against-time thriller directed by John Badham. And indeed it is a race, filmed in "real time" so that on screen events unfold minute by nail-biting minute as they would in real life.Christopher Walken, Charles S. Dutton and Courtney Chase co-stars in this film.A stranger pulled into a deadly scheme races against time to save his daughter in this thriller. Gene Watson is an accountant who comes to L.A. with his ten-year-old daughter Lynn to attend a funeral. On the street, Gene and Lynn are pulled aside by Mr. Smith and Ms. Jones, who flash what look like police badges and usher them into a van. Gene soon discovers that he's been kidnapped, and his captors have an unusual demand that is if Gene does not murder Gov. Eleanor Grant within 75 minutes, his daughter will be killed. Gene now has just an hour and a quarter to tip off the authorities, spare Gov. Grant, and find out what Smith and Jones are trying to do, along with saving his daughter's life. He finds a much-needed ally in one-legged shoe-shine man Huey. This is a fast and furious 90 minutes that doesn't waste a second.Also,it is an exciting albeit illogical tale of mystery and suspense.Unfortunately,this is an average movie that was saved by the excellent performances of the cast particularly Johnny Depp and Christopher Walken. Aside from that,the plot is clichéd and predictable as well as it has been already seen in many movies before even with "real time" involved in the premise.