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Five Days to Midnight is a mini-series that has been promoted on the Sci-Fi channel practically since the beginning of the year. Now that it's finally been aired, how was it? Well, it was certainly better than expected. In fact, if not for a rather Scooby-Doo style plot twist of "whodunit" in the final few minutes, this was one of the best special broadcast shows (not regular series) which Sci-Fi Channel ever offered. In short, I liked it. I liked it very much.

The story is sort of like the classic movie thriller D.O.A., with a science fiction edge. J.T. Neumeyer (Timothy Hutton) has just gotten a briefcase from the future telling him when and where he's going to die...yet little else. See; his murder case was never solved, so someone from the future sent him the "cold case" from the past, hoping that J.T. could solve the mystery behind his own murder. Then again, one wonders if he could, since time cannot be changed...or can it?

Not that J.T. takes a message "from the future" at face value. For one thing he didn't see this futuristic briefcase pop in from out of nowhere --only we did-- so at first he sees it as one big prank. Then he notices that certain things that the news clippings say happened, are actually happening. At the very minimum, whoever researched this "murder case" knew a lot of very sensitive data --even social security numbers-- leading to even the alleged detective on the case, Sikorski (Randy Quaid) to take interest..."prematurely," I suppose. Speaking of Sikorski; this is the most dramatic role I've ever seen Randy Quaid perform, and was quite surprised. I barely recognized the star of such classic comedies as National Lampoon's Vacation in such a role, which really shows the comedian's acting range.

This resulting 5-day, 5-hour mini-series has a lot of red herrings to keep this mystery afloat. For one thing, J.T.'s brother in law is in trouble with his finances, and just discovered with J.T.'s help that the briefcase he got from the future is made of a lightweight alloy that could make he and J.T. billionaires; could he have done the crime for profit? Then there's J.T.'s student in college, who is so much of a crackpot, he's ready to kill J.T. just to make sure time doesn't get altered, "or else"; could he be the killer, in a bizarre time loop? Then there's J.T.'s girlfriend, who isn't even using her real name (!), and turns out to be hiding from her very powerful crime lord ex-husband. Yeah; he seems to be an element of this crime no matter what happens, though as I said: there's a twist. It's a "scooby doo" style twist if you ask me, though it's still a major twist.

If there is one flaw with the story, it's how J.T. informs everyone --seriously; everyone, including the people who are suspects in his own "murder" case!-- about the potential murder. Even his young daughter Jesse (Gage Golightly) finds out, if just by accident, leading to one of many cute scenes between father and daughter, and some of the best moments of the mini-series. However, before I digress, I was often left wondering if J.T. would be in half the pickle he's in if not for informing everyone he meets about this "murder case" of his. Seriously; if you're being hounded by your girlfriend's estranged ex-husband, who you know to be a major crime kingpin, would you freely tell him of the murder he "might" commit? That's like having a full house in a poker game and showing your hand to even your most bitter of enemies at the table. It just makes no sense.

However, it's the lack of any sense that is this mini-series' shortcoming as well as its sales point. Much like the current Sci-Fi Channel promos where the single word "IF" morphs into the sci-fi logo; this is a tale whose core strength is from the what-if story technique. Call it The Twilight Zone, or the Nightmare Gallery, or a Tale from the Darkside if you will, though this is not the sort of story that you watch right after viewing a documentary on The History Channel. Just have fun with it.

Does this mean J.T. can bend the laws of time, and stop his own murder? I won't reveal that here, though I will say that for every puritan who says that J.T. cannot change time: what about the briefcase? The very fact that a briefcase came through time and space to land right near J.T. is proof that time can be changed, since that briefcase came from the future, not the "present," so to speak. It is silly to insist that time cannot be changed even though the very fact that time travel is possible proves that it can, a la Terminator 3 (no; I'm not still groaning over that horrible sequel). No, this is more of a time fantasy, not reality, and again, that's what I liked so much about it.

In the end, some critics have said that the mini-series is worth watching during the rerun-clad months of summer, yet immediately forgettable. I suppose Sci-Fi felt that way too --why else would they wait until June to show this?-- though they shouldn't be so defensive. This is a really cute mini-series; one of the best the channel has ever offered. If this is the sort of science fiction fantasy thriller they're ready to deliver more of, count me in as a far more frequent Sci-Fi Channel fan.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. Just sit back and enjoy this science fiction fantasy for its thrills --not its sense of "reality"-- and you'll have a great time.
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5 Days to Midnight

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