The Killing Time (1987) User Reviews

A Predictable Film Noir with Many Clichés

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 11 August 2003]

Kiefer Sutherland is an unknown killer, who comes to a peaceful coastal town pretending to be the new deputy sheriff. He starts working with Sam Wayburn (the expressionless Beau Bridges) and Carl Cunningham (Joe Don Baker), who is going to retire. Sam is in love with his high school sweetheart Laura Winslow (Camelia Kath), who is married with a powerful and wealth man, Jake Winslow (Wayne Rogers). Sam and Laura decides to kill Jake and put the blame on the new comer, but things will not work as planned. This movie is not totally bad, although full of clichés and very predictable. The situations are easily resolved and the plot is neither moralist nor amoral: it is shallow. Maybe in the hands of the Cohen brothers or other good director, it could be a great movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Tempo de Vingança" ("Time of Revenge")

A decent thriller, but directing leaves to be desired

[BeneCumb · 6/10 · 15 October 2012]

Above all, I mean the opening and ending scenes, which could be different: the first killed a lot of thrill for subsequent events, the latter was too abrupt and short. The tensions are also not maintained high throughout the movie and events connected to the past remain vague and uncompleted. Dramatic scenes end as suddenly as they begin and do often not provide additional value to the movie; the plot does not run smoothly, the scenes are rather "minced".

But performances are good (Bridges, Baker, Kath) or great (Sutherland, Rogers); Madsen could have played a bigger part. The Killing Time fits quite well into its title, especially if you like something happening in a quiet American town, without constant chases and bursts.

Awfully Mediocre

[mingulay2012 · 5/10 · 30 January 2014]

The script of this movie never shows why or how a seemingly decent, almost boring small-town cop is transformed into a scheming bad-ass who plans not only murder, but to pin the blame for it on a fellow officer. Love is just not enough, especially when the object of it, Camelia Kath, is so woefully lacking in the femme fatale department. Then there is Keifer, who is excellent, except we don't get to see much of him. A lot could have been done with this character, but instead we get large dollops of the poisonous relationship between two quite unattractive people (Kath and her nasty, clichéd, property tycoon husband). Hitchcock could probably have pulled off a denouement in sand dunes on an overcast day but probably not many others could. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Joe Don Baker's performance as the old sheriff.

Another director might have done a better job

[sulo · 3/10 · 18 May 2000]

This one could have been better. The scenario works, the good cop not being totally good and the bad guy not entirely bad. Beau Bridges does a reliable job and Kiefer Sutherland even works to do a role out of the ordinary kiefer. However, the director ruins everything. The result is boring beyond limits. All the suspense comes from the screenplay and the final is totally flat. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a movie where screenplay and direction differ in quality as clearly as in this one.

I say it was good...

[merklekranz · 7/10 · 28 January 2007]

Having just watched another Kiefer Sutherland good movie (Truth or Consequences N.M.), I found "The Killing Time" almost equal. True the end was probably as predictable as ever, but getting there was as twisty as a California coastal road. Michael Madsen kind of disappeared, and that was somewhat disappointing. The character development was very good, the acting was fine also. I found the enjoyment level better than some of Quentin Tarantino's supposed classics. It is no "Fargo" but has that kind of feel to it. You could do much worse for an evenings entertainment. I give "The Killing Time" a solid 6.5 stars. - MERK

Implausible, Inconsistent, and Badly Directed

[jcanettis · 3/10 · 18 May 2005]

If "The Killing Time" is ranked well below average, this is mainly due to its implausibility and inconsistency. I could enumerate lots of reasons why the scenario is totally incredulous, but simply describing how the film starts, will suffice: A stranger (Sutherland) kills a man who was on his way to a job as a deputy sheriff in a small California coastal town. The murderer subsequently goes to the town, assuming the killed man's identity and starting to work in the police precinct himself, without anyone noticing that there is something wrong! The sequel of events does not get any more plausible: We watch the existing deputy sheriff Sam Wayborn (Bridges), as he plans along with his girlfriend Laura Winslow (Kath), the murder of her husband Jake (Rogers), with the intent of putting the blame on his new colleague. Throughout this inconsistent story we experience lots of annoying plot gaps, which render the movie a rather boring experience.

Unfortunately, the direction does not help either. I do not know the other works of director Rick King, but I bet this is not his best one...

The same goes with the acting: With the exception of Kiefer Sutherland, who manages to inject some liveliness in his role as a psycho stranger, the rest of the cast is mired in mediocrity.

Quite disappointing. 3/10.

The times are a ... killing

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 6 January 2022]

If you are in it for the long game ... well you may have more success than others. But an interesting take and interesting character Sutherland gets to play here. Overall it still has its flaws (pacing and otherwise), but it is more than a decent thriller - casting alone made sure of that.

You may see where this is going and there are glimpses of two sides of Sutherland. Who is channeling quite a lot here. He came a long way since then, but he is multitalented, also playing music quite succesfully. Keep your expectations a bit low and you'll be more than entertained by what you get served here - no pun intended. Even if it is quite predictable.

quality with limits

[tudseborg · 6 June 2004]

we bought this movie, as a second-hand copy, and first thing to strike us, was that we didn't have to turn up the sound, and talking bout sound, this score is one of the best we have heard, if score means coordinatiniton with the scenes in motion. the scenes too were artistically cut, to the score. we strongly recommend this copy to be copied by serious distributors for the future. unlike recent releases like matrix and others one can actually see and mostly hear this movie on and on. the screenplay is predictable, and a copy of an old perry mason episode. reference: new world international, danish copy by filmlab no 7736.

I rented this movie and was very disappointed

[jonnismith · 1/10 · 11 July 2008]

I rented this movie and was very disappointed in it. I like Kiefer a lot, but this is not one of his best performances. His acting isn't bad, but it's not good either. The movie is boring and I should have rented something else. And as for Camelia Kath, I've seen better looking scare-crows in farmer's fields. She's gross! The story line is nothing special, good cop against bad cop. This can get boring really fast. Wife plans murder of her husband with her boyfriend. Brilliant! And you just know it's not going to go as planned. If you need help getting to sleep tonight, rent or buy this movie. Sweet dreams!!! I give this movie a 1 out of 10.

You Are Doing Exactly What The Name Suggests

[damianphelps · 5/10 · 12 March 2024]

Killing Time treads familiar ground in the thriller genre, offering a serviceable but unremarkable viewing experience.

Despite the committed performances of its cast, the film struggles to transcend its formulaic plot and lacks the ingenuity needed to captivate audiences.

While there are fleeting moments of suspense, they're often overshadowed by predictable twists and clichéd tropes.

Watching Early Sutherland is the highlight of the movie, even though his performance is a little understated.

Ultimately, Killing Time may provide mild entertainment for those seeking a straightforward thriller, but it fails to leave a lasting impression or offer anything new to the genre :)

VERY WELL DONE THRILLER

[saywell-206-518541 · 9/10 · 2 February 2020]

It is not a straightforward murder mystery. A nice thriller with unpredictable turn of events. Some others here say it is predictable..i dont think so, Keifer sutherland does a great job, but everyone loves him as a hero and i can see how other comments reflect this and pull down the stars. I went into it without expectations and it made my evening nice.. It can be slow but characters are slowly developed enough to make this interesting. .....human character change is surprisingly and shockingly shown. absolutely brilliant gem that i only came upon today... refreshing after all the crap with no stories that we have to suffer today...