"Tick Tock". is an excellent example of a film where less would have been best. What are obviously intended be taken as ultra clever plot twists eventually become so unbelievable that their impact is lost. Flipping back and forth in time is another distraction, and eventually the entire movie becomes "so what", due to the plot contrivances. Acting by Megan Ward, Kristin Minter, and Linden Ashby is acceptable, while David Dukes is superior. Don't get me wrong, the film is totally watchable, and if some of the plot twists that were piled on, were toned down or eliminated, this would be a neat little thriller. There is full frontal nudity, several attempts at dark humor that seem way out of place, and an unexpected ending that helps somewhat. MERK

I caught this on the Lifetime Movie Network and watched it because Megan Ward of "General Hospital" was in it. It's a pretty clever story with the device of showing the actions of a certain character, then showing a clock moving backwards and showing the actions of another character leading up to the same point. The movie has quite a few interesting twists.

The acting isn't much, and obviously the budget wasn't very big - the biggest name here is David Dukes, who plays Ward's wealthy husband. He doesn't have much to do, and it's surprising that he took the role. Apparently this was a feature film, which I find hard to believe - maybe it went straight to video. It's a strictly TV cast, particularly Ward and Linden Ashby.

If you see it's on and you like mystery and suspense films, you'll probably like it. Or you might want to rent it because the sex stuff is cut on TV.

***SPOILERS*** Very much like Stanley Kbrick's 1956 crime thriller "The Killing" the made for TV flick "Tic Tock" or "A friendship to kill for" uses the movie technique of flashbacks in real time to reconstruct it's very complicated plot making it easy for its audience to follow it.

In the film lesbian lovers Rachal & Carla, Megan Ward & Kristin Minter,plan to knock off Rachel's rich husband Holden Avery, David Dukes, who's known in these parts, the West Coast, of the country as the potato king. It's Holden who supplies most of the restaurants in California Oregon and Washington state with top grade Idaho potatoes that he personally inspects for any defects to make sure that their top grade.

Holden in fact is suspicious that his wife Rachel is cheating on him and had employed private detective Clay Fairfield, John Ratzenberger, to check her out. Fairfield comes up with this urban cowboy type Travis Brewer, Linden Ashby, who's been trying to get friendly with her since he introduced herself to Raciel at a local bar. As we soon find out Travis is part of the plan that the manipulating Carla, in fact he's her secret lover, is using both Rachel & Travis to not only knock off Holden but have Travis, a two time loser already, end up taking the rap for it!

Everything works like clockwork with Holden getting his skull smashed in by Carla with Travis who was told to go to Holden's mansion for his payoff money, in him blackmailing Rachael, being spotted by PI Fairfield where he'd end being the prime suspect in Holden's murder! As things soon turned out Holden's daughter Anne, Hedy Burress, showed up unexpectedly at the Holden Mansion complicating things for the two murderesses! What's even more disturbing for Rachel & Carla is that Travis, in finding Holden's body, had cleaned up the bloody mess hiding Holden's battered and bloodied corpes in the woods thus taking him out of being a suspect in his murder!

****SPOILERS**** With their perfect crime unraveling both Rachel and Clara start to unravel themselves in trying to cover it up! With Travis,the designated fall guy, being the only one who can finger the girls in Holden's murder he's then set up to be murdered himself by Carla & Rachel only to end up , by the skin of his teeth, getting away. It's when Travis runs out of luck and is about to be gunned down by Rachel who had earlier murdered her partner in crime Carla, for cheating on her with him, that he ends up not only getting away in a sense but taking his potential murderer,Rachel, along with him! In a most unusual both together and unexpected way!