Word About Biehn

Though Timebomb is a small film, it's not a bad one. It has a suspenseful premise, a good measure of action, and (for the very few out there who may be interested) it has Michael in the altogether.

Michael's performance here is a noteworthy one. In the storyline, his character, Eddie Kay, undergoes a significant transformation of personality, and Michael handles it very commendably. Eddie Kay is your average unassuming watchmaker; in his own words, he's "a nice guy," a regular fellow who rides a bike to work, eats at the local diner, is taken aback by inadvertent sexual innuendo, and helps ladies plant flowers. However, like Superman, underneath that mild-mannered exterior lies a man of steel, a man of whom Eddie himself is unaware. Then things begin happening to make him wonder about himself. He performs an act of heroism, in itself seemingly uncharacteristic behavior. That act sets off a chain of events that not only threaten his life and that of the heroine but also uncover an assassination plot.

It is very entertaining to watch Michael gradually and believably take Eddie through his metamorphoses. One scene particularly comes to mind that's illustrative. Eddie seeks out a psychiatrist (our heroine) to help him discover what's happening to him. Prior to his visit, however, he purchases a rifle; attempts on his life and disturbing flashbacks have unsettled him and caused him to feel just a tad insecure. Following his session with the doctor, he enters the building's parking ramp and is confronted by people obviously hostile to him. At first, he's fearful and out of his element. However, when he's attacked, he becomes "the other," using his weapon and his body in an instinctive, skillful and efficient fight to save his life. But when the opportunity to flee arises, Eddie resurfaces, and we again see the frightened, nervous, desperate man who's completely lost and alone. This vacillating between Eddie and his underlying alien personality continues throughout the film, and Michael is truly effective in his depiction of it!

My favorite scene: After Eddie has been attacked for the second time, he returns home after dark. Walking toward his apartment, he hears someone approaching and apprehensively picks up garden shears left in a flower bed he's passing. It turns out to be just a neighbor. Then, in the following scene, we find Eddie in the shower, and we watch as the camera pans down from his worried face over his bruised body and, finally, to his hand. It still holds those pruning shears, and we are struck by our hero's vulnerability in the nightmare he's living. Nicely done!

I don't think its end quite lives up to the promise of its beginning, but over all, Timebomb is an entertaining and very watchable film!

Kay