A case of a film that desperately wants to be exciting but doesn't come off that way. The film could have been original but it uses one of those typical 'done-to-death' style plots which we've seen in other (better) movies, namely 'Sudden Death'. Where the film suffers most is in its woeful miscasting of the lead character. David Arquette was the ideal lead man for 'Eight Legged Freaks' but for this one - no way. He looks way too childish for this role. In my view, Richard T. Jones would have made a better action hero rather than support character. In Frank Military, this was written by a former NCIS producer. As it stands, if it was Donald P. Bellisario penning this, this could have been so much better, but Military ain't no Bellisario.

Department of Homeland Security agent Mike Bookman is on his way to meet his wife and son at an American football game in Washington when he gets divert to a bomb planted in a crowded bar in Washington. The bomb disposal experts cannot even get close to diffusing it and, with everyone evacuated, it detonates. Almost instantly another call comes in that this attack was just a show of strength and that the real bomb is the Washington stadium. It will collapse the whole stadium on the 65000 people inside if anyone is evacuated and a high profile terrorist prisoner is not released. With the pressure already on him, Bookman gets another very personal motivator.From the very start this 24 wannabe seems happy to do the basics on the cheap but by learning from that show in regards what works. Hence we get the ticking clock situation, the constantly moving cameras, the Muslim terrorists, torture and the power of technology. So far so genre but ultimately it is weak in key areas that does undercut the film as a whole. The plot is generic but relies too heavily on weak devices and twists to keep it moving – even 24 struggles to do this but it does have a whole season to sustain. The use of Bookman's family and the many twists just reduce tension rather than increase it. Unlike some I did like the use of DV because it presents the illusion of action and realism when used with restraint, however other than this there is not a lot that Gyllenhaal's direction has to recommend it for.The biggest weakness is the casting of David Arquette. He is far too weak to convince and I cannot believe that he was the first choice for this role. He is a light comedy actor and not suited or the Sutherland role. To be honest Jones would have been better in the main role as he has more presence and urgency about him in his turn, which is not brilliant but is definitely effective within the demands of the film. The main reason I checked this out was the presence of Bassett, because I was curious to see what she was up to recently – not only do I think she is talented but she is stunning even as she turns 50 this year. Here all she does is a few days worth of work, remote from the action and has more "reaction" shots than dialogue scenes. 24's Caro Rota turns up briefly (and uncredited) as a terrorist but other than that the cast are mostly TVM standard.Time Bomb is not great, even by genre standards but it is just about clichéd enough to allow the undemanding viewer to watch, safe in the knowledge that thinking or caring is not required. The script is weak, the twists weak and the whole delivery is derivative. It might just about have been fun if it had had a stronger lead actor but, as it is, Arquette is so badly cast that he doesn't even convince once.

Homeland Security Agent Michael Bookman (David Arquette) has not been spending enough time with his wife Lynn and son Sean. That may be about to change as they join 63,000 other fans at Washington's Memorial Stadium for the football game against New Orleans, a team which lost badly in the last game against Washington and now wants revenge.Also watching the game: fans at a bar where masked terrorists enter and handcuff them to a bomb which will go off if they move. The bomb is set on a timer, so it will go off anyway unless ...Somehow, one of the people in the bar moves carefully enough to make a phone call, and Bookman has to make yet another excuse to his wife and son.The first bomb was only a warning. A phone call made by someone with a disguised voice warns that the football stadium will be destroyed at the end of the game unless a prisoner with a Middle Eastern name I won't attempt to spell is released, and $100 million is deposited in an offshore account. The terrorist group Circle of Fire is blamed. Al Qaida is mentioned in the movie, but it is apparently separate. No one can announce this news to the crowd, and if the people start leaving--BOOM! When Bookman gets this news, he is on the phone with his wife, and he warns her to leave the stadium with Sean. Unfortunately, someone connected with the bombing threat knows where they are.Bookman and bomb expert Douglas Campbell (Richard T. Jones) must lead the search for the bomb or bombs, with numerous complications standing in the way of preventing a tragedy. Among these is the fact that in the event of nuclear war, Congress would move to quarters accessible from the stadium, and this is where the terrorists might be.Only a few people connected with the stadium or the game are allowed to know what is going on, and they are required to keep quiet--with men standing nearby with guns making sure they do.The tension level remains constant in this movie, and the excitement builds to a climax enhanced by spectacular mixing of audio and video from the game with audio and video of the efforts to prevent the bombing. If there were an Emmy for just editing in a TV-movie or miniseries, as opposed to just audio editing or video editing, they could hand that one out right now. This is also true because of the impressive job done for editing the disarming of the first bomb.Angela Bassett gave the standout performance here as the Homeland Security Agent who communicated with Bookman from the office where the investigation was taking place. She had difficult decisions to make--some of them life-or-death, and some having to be made with little warning.David Arquette also showed a take-charge attitude, though his character had trouble controlling his temper, and while his anger might have been justified, his performance needed a little more range.The football announcers did quite a good convincing job, especially the play-by-play man, who had one moment that could be ranked with the 1980 Olympic Hockey victory among the great events in sports broadcasting.I also need to single out the actor who played a suspect who was arrested. He didn't have a lot of lines, but he did a good job. At this point, I should also mention that several Muslims and Middle Easterners, or people believed to be one or the other, were unjustly accused. This to me was not a weakness because it added to the drama, though several valuable members of the explosives team could have been lost as a result.The writers really seemed to know what they were doing. I don't know enough to know whether the explosives experts were doing everything right, but they certainly dealt with a number of confusing and dangerous situations.The football game seemed real enough, though I know little about sports. Based on the commentary from the announcers, the game added a lot to the movie's excitement.This was one of the season's better TV-movies.

The movie is not bad. Which ought to tell the discerning movie watcher quite a bit. One serious problem, with 500,000 actors in the world the best they can come up with for a Kiefer Sutherland type role is David Arquette? Not a single comedic moment, unless you find humor in mass murder. I can't see or hear Arquette without thinking ditsy lame comedy. The movie is part Sum of all fears and part Die Hard part 3, and part Sudden Death.We've all seen the generic terrorist movie with minor variances, and this one is a cut above most made for TV movies. If there's nothing else on, watch a half hour and if it catches your interest, stay with it.....it does get better.