
Hitchcock would have made a real killer-diller of this one: shame that director John Badham can't quite make us believe it all. Accountant Johnny Depp arrives at the station with his six-year-old daughter, only to fall victim to two ne'er-do-wells (Christopher Walken, Roma Maffia) who kidnap Depp and his daughter. Depp is told he has 90 minutes to assassinate a popular governor (Marsha Mason) - or the kid will die. One of the many weaknesses of the film is that there never seems any chance that Depp will actually bow to the kidnappers' demands. This considerably undercuts the suspense, even in the admittedly exciting shootout at the climax. Walken does his standard icy criminal act and Charles S Dutton has a good supporting role as a shoeshine man who pretends to be deaf to help Depp out. Always-getting-bumped-off Gloria Reuben once again fails to stay the course. This is a rare example of a film taking place in real time: it starts at noon and ends at 1.30. A few moments of tension do result, but there aren't many surprises.