Against the Clock 2019 * 1/2 Stars

Director: Mark Polish
Year: 2019
Rated NR
Rating: * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Mark Polish, Dianna Agron, Andy Garcia

"All signs point to the loss of brain function". So says Justin Bartha's character in 2019's Against the Clock (my latest review). Is he secretly talking about the raucous movie he's in? Possibly. Is he talking about the inapt sensory overload in the movie he's in? Definitely.

Anyway, "Clock's" scenario goes like this: A Central Intelligence Agent named Kelley Chandler gets injured during a mission and winds up comatose. His wife (Tess Chandler) goes to great lengths to try and save him from a vegetative death. Mark Polish plays Chandler with stuntman overkill, unintentional physical comedy, and almost no dialogue. Every sequence involves him basically running and falling and running and falling and running (lather rinse repeat). Polish also directed Against the Clock while writing the laddish script as well. All I gotta say is "C-list" ego trip alert! Natch.

Only released in the U. S., saddled without an MPAA rating, and harboring the feel of something made by a film school graduate who couldn't wait to show off his mad skills, "Clock" is abundant style over minimal substance. This flick is loud, seizure-d, and jittery, with a visual palate equivalent to a stoner's nightmare and editing that looks as though it was done by a couple of simians on Foxy Methoxy. While watching the massively cross-cutting Against the Clock, I was reminded of the late Tony Scott and some of his stuff from the mid-2000's (Domino, Man on Fire). Too bad Scott is Orson Welles compared to the headache-inducing and morbidly chi-chi Mark Polish.

"Clock", with its alternate title being Headlock, stars the likes of Andy Garcia and Justin Bartha (mentioned earlier). They are known actors who play "Clock's" dodgy CIA directors (Gerald Hotchkiss and Peter Hobbs). Bartha and Garcia unknowingly damage their reputations in this vehicle. They are decent but it doesn't help that every other supporting performance around them feels as wooden as Pinocchio's forehead. Bottom line: Against the Clock is the classic case of a Hollywood studio letting their director do whatever the heck he wants, when he wants. When "Clock's" story finally comes together after numerous scenes being discombobulated to the nth degree, "time has run out" on the viewer's patience. Rating: 1 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson