Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

malkia71 Poor, unconvincing and weak are the only words I can say for Time Bomb. There was no Time Bomb, from beginning to end the so called terrorists gave Home Land Security all the time to diffuse the situation "bombs" at their leisure. The acting was so poor and unconvincing I pitied and loathed the entire cast, from the protagonist to villain. David Arquette's emotions were as bad as Will Smith's in Seven Pounds. How this movie got the rating baffles me. Arquettes's wife and child have been kidnapped as leverage on the 65,000 people's lives, so what! Who is he that his family should come first before thousands? My 3 year old could have written a better screen play, and his reaction is so, so... unconvincing it's like he's had his neighbours' pet parrot taken for ransom. You can actually see him forcing to feel a connection to these 2 people (wife and son) when called by the so claimed "terrorist". This plot is becoming so generic that I can now almost guess the bad guy won't be the Arab, foreign type but the patriotic money hungry/warlord (weapons dealer) American. 24 has done all the foreign and internal terrorists scenario and pulled them off but the rest are like a fumbling copy cat serial murderer without the murderer's secret signature. Watch it if you've seen everything else on telly but otherwise wait till you're hospitalised (on you death bed) and can't change the channels.

bob the moo Department of Homeland Security agent Mike Bookman is on his way to meet his wife and son at an American football game in Washington when he gets divert to a bomb planted in a crowded bar in Washington. The bomb disposal experts cannot even get close to diffusing it and, with everyone evacuated, it detonates. Almost instantly another call comes in that this attack was just a show of strength and that the real bomb is the Washington stadium. It will collapse the whole stadium on the 65000 people inside if anyone is evacuated and a high profile terrorist prisoner is not released. With the pressure already on him, Bookman gets another very personal motivator.From the very start this 24 wannabe seems happy to do the basics on the cheap but by learning from that show in regards what works. Hence we get the ticking clock situation, the constantly moving cameras, the Muslim terrorists, torture and the power of technology. So far so genre but ultimately it is weak in key areas that does undercut the film as a whole. The plot is generic but relies too heavily on weak devices and twists to keep it moving – even 24 struggles to do this but it does have a whole season to sustain. The use of Bookman's family and the many twists just reduce tension rather than increase it. Unlike some I did like the use of DV because it presents the illusion of action and realism when used with restraint, however other than this there is not a lot that Gyllenhaal's direction has to recommend it for.The biggest weakness is the casting of David Arquette. He is far too weak to convince and I cannot believe that he was the first choice for this role. He is a light comedy actor and not suited or the Sutherland role. To be honest Jones would have been better in the main role as he has more presence and urgency about him in his turn, which is not brilliant but is definitely effective within the demands of the film. The main reason I checked this out was the presence of Bassett, because I was curious to see what she was up to recently – not only do I think she is talented but she is stunning even as she turns 50 this year. Here all she does is a few days worth of work, remote from the action and has more "reaction" shots than dialogue scenes. 24's Caro Rota turns up briefly (and uncredited) as a terrorist but other than that the cast are mostly TVM standard.Time Bomb is not great, even by genre standards but it is just about clichéd enough to allow the undemanding viewer to watch, safe in the knowledge that thinking or caring is not required. The script is weak, the twists weak and the whole delivery is derivative. It might just about have been fun if it had had a stronger lead actor but, as it is, Arquette is so badly cast that he doesn't even convince once.

uscmd The movie is not bad. Which ought to tell the discerning movie watcher quite a bit. One serious problem, with 500,000 actors in the world the best they can come up with for a Kiefer Sutherland type role is David Arquette? Not a single comedic moment, unless you find humor in mass murder. I can't see or hear Arquette without thinking ditsy lame comedy. The movie is part Sum of all fears and part Die Hard part 3, and part Sudden Death.We've all seen the generic terrorist movie with minor variances, and this one is a cut above most made for TV movies. If there's nothing else on, watch a half hour and if it catches your interest, stay with it.....it does get better.

yellowdogtvray "Time Bomb" on CBS featured Mr. Courteney Cox as a Homeland Security officer who races to save 65,000 fans... and his own family... from a threatened terrorist attack at a pro football game in Washington, D.C.Funny how Olympic Stadium in Montreal was suddenly located in D.C., but that's another matter.I had absolutely no inclination or desire to watch "Time Bomb", but it was one of those "it's on, the DVR is rolling on my other stuff, what the hell, let's check it out for a few minutes" thingies.Unbelievable.I'd actually wondered before whether Arquette could play a non-clown role, and I got my answer tonight. All the classic overacting clichés... over emoting, pounding the wall, choking back tears, tortured grimaces... were there, and it was just awful.(As for the "tortured grimace" noted above: who knew the "Dewey from 'Scream'" scrunched-up face was his default look?) One indelible moment was when Arquette's Dewey... er, DHS Agent Bookman (not the library cop from the classic "Seinfeld" episode)... was forced to squelch a crying jag while explaining that his family had been kidnapped. He stopped talking, gulped audibly, placed his hand to his face and said, "Sorry." I can't imagine what co-star Richard T. Jones was thinking at the time.You'd think it was camp, but it was played just as straight as could be.As for Angela Bassett, I see her name is missing from the current cast list. I'm betting she was added later, which wouldn't have been a problem, since all of her scenes take place in a different location.Production values were O.K., but there are plot holes you could drive a truck thru (a zip line to a neighboring house? Wouldn't security notice?).And director Stephen Gyllenhaal (also not listed) must have really loved his football footage: there are long stretches of game action shown (with play-by-play), for no apparent reason. And don't think we don't get the scoreboard clock as a "24" allusion, either.David Arquette may be a terrific guy and has certainly had his share of successes with the odd-ball stuff. I actually admire him for wanting to stretch a bit, but dude, leave the tough-guy stuff for Willis or Keifer.