...tick...tick...tick...
(1970)
Director: Ralph Nelson
Cast: Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Fredric March
When I was reviewing Have A
Good Funeral, My Friend...
Sartana Will Pay last week, I mentioned how sometimes we
come across
a scene in a movie that feels absolutely perfect. By a coincidence, ...tick...tick...tick... not
only has a perfect feeling scene, but it's also at the very beginning
of
the movie. The first thing we see is a shot of the blazing sun, and all
we hear is a "...tick...tick...tick..." on the soundtrack. As the
ticking
continues, we cut to a close-up shot of an egg being cracked on
concrete.
The egg starts to cook silently before our eyes. We cut to shots of
sweaty,
dumb-looking faces of people watching the egg silently. Flies buzz
quietly.
Everyone stays still, sweating as they watch.....just watch.
This scene is not just perfect in how it grabs you in,
but setting up the story that's about to start. From these few quiet
seconds,
we know instantly that we are in the South, in the grueling heat, in a
community of people who may not exactly be rocket scientists. Also,
showing
the strength of this scene alone is a good way to summarize the general
strength of ...tick...tick...tick... That is, its
strength
lies in individual moments spread throughout, and not, as in other good
movies, several strong elements intertwined together and working as a
whole.
There are some definite problems with the screenplay here, problems
that
prevent it from becoming a greater movie than it is. Still, though I
found
parts of the movie lacking, I was never bored while watching it, and I
was interested in how everything was going to resolved. I think that
counts
for something, and makes the movie a worthy, though undemanding,
diversion,
should it ever be broadcast during a lazy Sunday.
We may not be in Baker County
anymore, but the redneck
spirit is just as strong in Colusa County, and a tempest is brewing up
there as well. In the county there was recently an election for county
sheriff, which resulted in long time sheriff John Little (Kennedy)
being
voted out of office. History was made during the election; due to Northerners
coming into the county to help round up the black vote, the new
sheriff,
Jim Price (Brown), is a black man - and the white community is
generally
outraged about a black being their sheriff. John isn't thrilled about
losing
his job, but hands it over without a fight. However, he soon is
struggling
with being inactive and the fact that the white community thinks he's a
coward for not fighting for his job. At the same time, Jim is under
stress
from harassment both minor and major, and does not appreciate John's
effort
when he steps in to save Jim from harm, for he's determined to do his
job
without help.
The timer has definitely been set for what seems to be
a major explosion of some kind down the road. Surprisingly though, this
is not where the story leads to. In fact, I kind of hesitate to say
there
is a central story of some kind, because there is no prime focus here.
Instead, the movie essentially is a collection of vignettes seen from
two
perspectives. We see Jim's life at work and at home, and we see John's
life as he stays at home, wondering what he should do with his life,
and
if he should get involved in protecting Jim. Occasionally the two men
do
interact with each other as they do their respective duties, but in
general
they are not together. Until past the halfway point, there's no real
reoccurring
theme that becomes strong enough to be called a central story or a
major
plot element; the storyline is really meandering until then, and you
wonder
what the point, if any, the movie is trying to make. Even when a major
plot point does start to develop (around a jailed drunk driver and his
powerful and rich father determined to get him released), it comes out
slowly from the vignette structure. This plot point itself is not
exactly
original, and its somewhat less developed than usual. Not only that,
but
it has a climax that's very hard to swallow (especially considering
what
has just gone on beforehand). To top it off, afterwards, where it seems
the movie should end, the movie goes on for ten more redundant minutes,
telling us nothing that a good editor would have kept.
Another problem I had with the script was that it
refuses
to give us a glimpse into Jim's mind. What is his past? Why did he make
the gutsy decision to run for sheriff? Why is he determined to hang on
despite the objections of his wife? We never find out these things, nor
get a clue. The movie almost seems
afraid of giving him a bigger personality,
almost as if the filmmakers were afraid that showing depth might show
some
flaws Jim has, and that the audience at the time might object to
showing
a major black character with some fault. Maybe they were trying to make
him perfect in the way Sidney Poitier played Virgil Tibbs in In
The
Heat Of The Night (which probably inspired this movie.) I
don't
find fault with the way Jim Brown acts; in this limited role, he does a
good job, giving his character an air of authority and strength, and
acts
so cool that I really don't think I once saw a bead of sweat on his
brow.
He also gives this character the likeability the script doesn't
provide.
The script does improve with fleshing out the other
characters,
and combined with some very good acting, creates some characters that
are
harder to forget once the movie is over. It's interesting how this
combination
is able to makes some minor characters instantly loathsome in front of
our eyes; for example, though the drunk driver gets maybe a few minutes
screen time in total, I was surprised at just how much fury he provoked
in me during one of his rare appearances. (I hoped for the worst harm
to
happen to him.) Besides Brown, there are two other major
performances
in the movie of note. George Kennedy, years before he started slumming
it in B movies, gives a solid performance here. His character is not
the
typical redneck Southern sheriff, but someone more balanced in mind. On
the surface, he's accepting of his job loss ("The law is the law"), but
he can't always hide his frustration, at one point blurting out, "I
wasn't
voted out because I was a bad sheriff - I was voted out because I was
not
colored!" We really get a full look at this character, and though we
sense
his frustration, we also at the same time see that he's a pretty decent
man. One other performance of note comes from March, as the
cantankerous
mayor, who always makes a good impression during his sporadic
appearances.
He's also not a stereotype - he's old-fashioned, but has a good deal of
common sense going on in his head. He also has one of the best scenes
in
the movie, where he has an actual conversation with his servant of 18
years
for the first time. It's warm and humorous.
There are a few other scenes played with a touch lighter
than you'd think, and I was glad that the movie wasn't going to play
every scene dead
serious, for the tone would have been glummer. Granted, the
premise of the movie is serious, but it's not uncommon in real life to
find something a little humorous in a desperate time, even if you are
afraid
to laugh at the time. It's little moments, humorous or not, where ...tick...tick...tick...
has
its strength. Though the parts may be stronger than the whole, there
are
a lot of these parts spread throughout that make you keep you
interested
in the movie. I won't soon forget the strained atmosphere at Jim's
house
on his first day of work. Nor will I forget the site of Jim driving up
to the police station, and finding many of the county's white citizens
waiting outside quietly and watching... just watching.... Though these
moments may do little to nothing for the story, each one grabs you
attention,
and when they are all put together, make for a fairly interesting
diversion.
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See also: The Black Godfather,
The Klansman, Out Of Sync
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