Short Time (1990)

Directed by Gregg Champion; produced by Todd Black

Burt Simpson (Dabney Coleman) is a veteran cop eight days away from retirement; he is good  - if not superb - at his job, still loves his estranged wife (Teri Garr) and is devoted to his son (Kay-Erik Eriksen). His fairly complacent life is turned upside down, however, when his doctor tells him that he has just weeks to live. Simpson receives another shock when he learns that his police life-insurance policy will pay out much more if he dies in the line of duty. With nothing to lose and a secure future for his family to gain, Simpson sets out to be killed. But that turns out to be considerably harder than he thinks.

I have a fondness for watching movies that feature as leads players who are otherwise considered character actors. That’s not to guarantee that I will like those movies I watch, but I want to give them a chance. I think it appeals to my liking of the obscure.

In Short Time, Coleman has, I believe, his sole starring role in a motion picture. He is much better known as a supporting performer in the cinema and as a prominent star in tv series. He frequently plays unpleasant people, villains - though rarely vicious or violent. Even his ‘good guy’ roles, if one can call them that, are sarcastic, vitriolic, if dry-humoured, men, such as the characters he played in the tv series Buffalo Bill and The Slap Maxwell Story.

Short Time gives Coleman quite a different part to play. It’s true that he is, again, sarcastic, given to snide comments and muttered insults, but he is definitely a good guy, without quotation marks. Burt Simpson is loyal - to his job and his wife - conscientious and respected. The movie gives Coleman a chance to show that he can act, and create a sympathetic character. There is a moment when he is driving with his young son, and exhibits true joy at getting to know a side of his boy he may not have known before.

Unfortunately for the movie, Coleman is the only real attraction. Matt Frewer and Barry Corbin give good support as Simpson’s partner and boss, respectively; both bewildered by the sudden dare-devil attitude of their formerly cautious comrade. But Garr is wasted in the thankless role she is often handed, that of the slightly harried wife and mother. Xander Berkeley is a cartoon as the villain of the piece.

The writing is rather uneven, depending, like the film as a whole, largely upon Coleman. There is enjoyable humour in Simpson’s growing frustration at the inability of criminals to kill him. But beyond the star, the offerings are sparse.

The direction is adequate; there is a funny, enjoyable car-chase scene - no one in films is less grateful than Simpson is for seat-belts - but otherwise the work is pedestrian. This movie plays like a tv movie with a slightly bigger budget than average and stronger language.

While it may seem that I am damning Short Time with faint praise, there are some good elements to it. They all, however, come from the star, who certainly proved himself to be watchable and capable of more than supporting roles; indeed, he holds this movie up by himself. And that, unfortunately, is Short Time’s problem.