Synopsis
An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity – one that comes with its own price.
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Cast
- Rock HudsonAntiochus 'Tony' Wilson
- Salome JensNora Marcus
- John RandolphArthur Hamilton
- Will GeerOld Man
- Jeff CoreyMr. Ruby
- Richard AndersonDr. Innes
- Murray HamiltonCharlie Evans
- Karl SwensonDr. Morris
- Khigh DhieghDavalo
- Frances ReidEmily Hamilton
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
The film features a surprisingly good performance by Rock Hudson, an impeccable supporting cast and stunning cinematography by screen veteran James Wong Howe. - 90
The Dissolve
From the opening-credits sequence (by Saul Bass), Seconds mangles and distends the windows of perception until viewers get immersed in his sweat-soaked nightmare. - 89
Austin Chronicle
Though casting this mediocre screen hunk as an uptight businessman's alter ego was a stroke of pop genius for director Frankenheimer, it was Hudson's idea to have two actors play the lead, and his surprisingly thoughtful performance galvanizes this harrowing, cerebral thriller (and suggest Hudson's talents were under-utilized). - 80
CineVue
Like the best films from its genre, Seconds acts as a potent parable and posits an intriguing idea. - 75
Slant Magazine
A beautiful x-ray of middle-aged existential crisis, Seconds is arguably a second-tier John Frankenheimer funhouse of paranoia, but the same might be said of any film that isn’t The Manchurian Candidate. - 75
The A.V. Club
Seconds is certainly a flawed film, and it's easy to see why it flopped during its initial release: It's a relentlessly depressing, claustrophobic movie that offers no sense of catharsis whatsoever. Nevertheless, it's strangely touching, and as a portrayal of identity and alienation in suburban America, it's about a hundred times as creepy and sincere as David Lynch's thematically similar Lost Highway. - 70
Time Out
Saul Bass' unsettling title sequence sets the scene for the concise articulation of fifty-something bourgeois despair, as visualised by James Wong Howe's distorting camerawork and the edgy discord of Jerry Goldsmith's excoriating score. - 60
Time
Seconds has moments, and that's too bad, in a way. But for its soft and flabby midsection, it might have been one of the trimmest shockers of the year.
