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Ticking Clock DVD Review: Cuba Gooding Jr. Time Out for Terror

By Prairie Miller

Any extreme mix 'n match of movie genres can be a risky affair, and Ticking Clock is apparently no exception. A supernatural serial killer spree, this gory when not kooky itinerant gumshoe outing may keep viewers as unbalanced as the besieged protagonist subjected to cat and mouse delirium. Or would that be mouse and cat?

Cuba Gooding Jr. is Lewis Hicks, a workaholic LA investigative crime reporter and divorced dad with weekend joint custody interludes in his chaotic life. He's the sort of busybody professional news junkie who tends to get on the nerves of the LAPD on a daily basis. And, into packing a multiple assortment of fake identity calling cards, that come in handy when stalking on his own, suspect stalkers with criminal intent.

But Hicks, with his dubious free lance crime stopper when not starter methods, one day finds himself not only the target of a slippery serial killer, but the prime person of interest as the saying goes, after he discovers his own girlfriend that he dumped just that afternoon, quite homicidally deceased and disemboweled in her bedroom. After nearly cornering the hunky perp on his way out the door, Hicks is on the case and under the radar as he eludes both the enigmatic repeat offender assassin and police in pursuit.

But as Ticking Clock veers into occult territory, questions are raised about both Hicks' sanity and the serial killer's surreal modus operandi. And though this plot has enough holes to qualify as a golf course, small screen director Ernie Barbarash (Meteor) manages to sustain sufficient suspension of disbelief, via a heavy dose of heady suspense throughout.

DVD Features: The Blu-ray Disc is BD-Live™ enabled, allowing users to get connected and go beyond the disc via an Internet-connected Blu-ray player. Download content, give feedback through an exclusive survey, and register for rewards. By accumulating points, members are then able to redeem those points for Sony products. Visit www.sonyrewards.com/bluray for more details.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated R
2 1/2 stars

Prairie Miller is a multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio. Contact her through NewsBlaze.