Sixty Minutes Review – Tick Tick Snooze
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
If only this film were sixty minutes long! With an almost 90-minute runtime about an MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter ditching an important match to get to his daughter’s birthday because his ex threatens to sue for full custody if he doesn’t make it in time, the German film “Sixty Minutes” (original title: Sixty Minuten) is too long.
Directed by Oliver Kienle, who co-wrote the script with Oliver Kienle, the film stars Emilio Sakraya as protagonist Octavio Bergmann. Octavio has only sixty minutes to get to the other side of town for his daughter’s birthday, and a whole bunch of goons are trying to get him back to fight a match because a lot of betting money is at stake. That’s pretty much the story – a fighter trying to ward off dangerous men, fighting a lot of them along the way, while he tries to get to his daughter’s birthday in time.
So, ‘Sixty Minutes’ is supposed to rely on compelling cinematography, kick-ass action scenes, and a thrilling background score. While the music is pacy and helps create tension and suspense throughout the runtime, most of the fighting choreography was mediocre at best. However, even though Emilio Sakraya gets Octavio’s emotions and violent body language right, the character is barely likable—he is a hothead, runs a loss-making gym facility, isn’t a great MMA fighter, and is definitely a very questionable kind of father because his little daughter is pretty sure he is lying about coming to her birthday party. Octavio rarely shows up for her and needs an ultimatum about losing her custody altogether to wake up to his dad duties. Even then, while he is trying to make his way to her place, he swears at cops when a car runs over him, not because the cops were in the car, but they just happen to be on the scene. Then they arrest him for berating them. If you are in a hurry to get someplace, the last thing you want to do is piss off cops along the way. Why should we care about what happens to this guy? “Oh but he has a good heart,” is probably what the creators would say.
It’s not like one expects a lot of logic from action movies, but “Sixty Minutes” just runs with a terrible protagonist, whose personality is buried under snazzy colors and gritty music. The writers should’ve just made this film about a fighter trying to get to his girlfriend/wife’s place before she leaves him for good, making one last grand gesture to convince her of his love. At least, his character flaws wouldn’t seem as problematic because the victim of his callousness would be an adult woman, not a little girl who just wants to see her father on her birthday. The climax could’ve been heartwarming if the characterization had been better. Overall, this was a predictable snooze-fest but go ahead and give it a try if you are in mood for a mindless action flick.
“Sixty Minutes” is available on Netflix.
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