Clockstoppers Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)July 11th, 2002
Clockstoppers
Rental
Yes I totally saw this just for Jesse Bradford, the cute boy from Bring It On. I admit it fully. I also think the premise is a really fun idea, having a watch that for you, stops time (but is actually accelerating you so everything else seems really slow). The mayhem that a naughty teenage could get up to is incalculable. The mayhem that a shadowy evil organization could get up to is beyond reason. And when the two shall meet, well, you gotta admit, it sounds a little fun. The science was mostly fun but at least based on actual theories of relativity so it wasn't embarrassing or retarded, and the movie set up some ground rules to enable the story and stuck to them pretty well. It is always important to be true to the universe you create - the more committed the film is, the easier it is for us to believe that world.
This is Jesse's 2nd movie where it looks like he has zero chemistry with his costars, which is a total mystery - he should be picking up the John Cusack (or at least Jon Cryer) scepter and running with it. Please Jesse, we love you! Maybe he needs a mint.
The movie is chock full of clever little things if you are willing to give it a chance - Michael Biehn, a famous problem-stopping time traveler from the 1980's, has to make an appearance. And, despite the Blink 182 style soundtrack, the songs you actually hear in the course of the film all make little jokes about time, "Time in a Bottle," etc. The brilliantly cast Dad's name is Earl Doppler, you get the idea.
Clockstoppers is directed by multi-episode Star Trek TV series director (and Number One) Jonathan Frakes, and he seems to luxuriate in having all this extra room to wiggle, with no commerical breaks or hard time limits, so he has fun letting the kids play with their new Choronometer. In addition, Frakes (unshackled by the harsh Roddenberry directives) gets to reference other movies - including Star Wars! How liberating for him, and how entertaining for us. There are also some spectacular stunts in this film, and surprisingly low tech and convincing. Seems our Master Bradford is a bike enthusiast, or at least his character is.
To be honest, I took abysmal notes during this film because I was actually entertained and amused; but overall the movie is adequate and little more. Unless you are hot for Jesse Bradford. Then it's just a little bit more. This is his movie - he gets to be cute and heroic and dumb and smart and romantic and funny, rather than being "the dame" in a cheerleader movie. His next flick, Swimfan, may let us know if he can handle the tough stuff (and pull off wearing a bathing suit onscreen). Clockstoppers is a fun little rent, but I am sad to say it will not change your life. Let's hope it launches Jesse's career at least.
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