Without-Feathers.com

The Killing Time

Movie Review
November 12, 2007

About:
1987
Genre: Thriller

I normally don’t go for movies with titles like this, because they all-too-frequently disappoint me—I turn them on expecting a wicked bloodbath, and end up with some touchy-feely relationship melodrama instead. But this one actually delivers on the grimness—the very first minute has Kiefer Sutherland shooting a twitching victim in the desert (well, technically he shoots the victim in the back, but… you knew what I meant). So I’m not giving anything away when I tell you that Sutherland plays a REALLY. CREEPY. PSYCHO. in this movie. And, ultimately, he’s one of the more sympathetic characters in this story, which is peopled with bad eggs, vengeful relatives, and otherwise decent guys plotting murder and frame jobs. I can’t explain the plot in further depth without spoiling some of the surprises—suffice it to say that it takes a fairly common plot and gives it a nice wicked twist. A lesser film would have hidden the twist until the very end, trying to add an extra punch to the climax; this film, though, has the sense to let us ride along on with all the characters, realizing that it’s the characters that add depth and suspense to what would otherwise be a fairly typical thriller. Sutherland is at his sociopathic best as the young killer with a deranged sense of justice; Beau Bridges initially seemed like an odd pick to be the “hero” of the tale, but he pulled it off quite well. A good pick for mystery/thriller fans, and a must-see for Kiefer Sutherland acolytes.