Take a Chance Outside Your Comfort Zone in “Seconds” (1966)
There are some pretty great tools out there nowadays to help us find quality movies and TV to watch. (One of our favorites here at MovieSlap is the app “Just Watch”, available on iOS and Android, and we’ll discuss this in more detail in a future article!). Still, my favorite way of finding good stuff is through word of mouth. Today’s focus, Seconds (starring Rock Hudson), is one of the best examples of that, as it may never have landed on my radar if not for a trusted Twitter bud.
The basic premise behind Seconds, as contained in the official marketing, had me from ‘hello’. Howard, a middle-aged banker, is contacted by an old friend he believed had passed away. This friend attempts to cajole him into furtively traveling to a random location in the city for a meeting. As his wife of many years gives him the stink eye over the suspicious late night call, Howard becomes the battleground for an internal conflict between the inconvenient disruption to his comfortable life and routine, and the tug of curiosity spurred on by the persuasive pitch of a trusted name from his past.
It’s funny, because as someone who was born in the 70s and a child of the 80s, I have a fairly well-developed sense of what I can generally expect from movies of each period of time, from the decade of my birth all the way up through today. Prior to that, though, sometimes I’m flying blind as I have a limited frame of reference in those instances, and sometimes a film will completely catch me off guard. A good example of this would be 1957’s Witness for the Prosecution: I saw that film about fifteen years ago on DVD, and it left quite an impression. In fact, as the credits began to roll, there was a 50s-style voice-over that asked those theater patrons from the past to keep events of the film a secret so as not to ruin the surprise for their friends and family. I had never heard that before, but after seeing it for myself, it was clear this was well before it’s time, and not spoiling it for others would be a big concern. For different reasons, Seconds also caught me off guard a bit. You’ll just have to watch it in order to find out why.
I’m usually cognizant of the various types of moviegoer preferences as I’m watching a movie. I know some people who need lots of CGI, explosions, and action, and they just don’t have a lot of patience for the slow burn. Then there are others I know who are perfectly content with a more “arthouse-y” film, so long as the various elements such as writing, direction, and of course the performances, are strong. I’m sort of the jack-of-all-trades type: With the exception of English period pieces, which I genuinely have no tolerance for, I love a wide variety of cinema. Those in the latter two categories should enjoy Seconds, but if you’re in the first category, you may be fighting the urge to reach for the clicker by the end of the first hour. Those who take it in, and allow themselves to be eased into the final act, will be rewarded in spades. Who knows? Maybe it will even catch you off guard, as it did me.
Score: 8.9/10
Starring: Rock Hudson, Frank Campanella, John Randolph, Frances Reid
Suggested by: @jswriter65 (reminder: Check out The MovieSlap Red Carpet!)
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