It's typically Johnny Cash that he, still at the start of a promising and successful career, nevertheless stars as a loathsome and merciless villain in this low-budgeted thriller. That's just who he was: a rebel, and a stubborn and quirky one to boot! How many country singers at the verge of their breakthrough do you know who would depict a mean thug who shoots his mistress in cold blood, assaults a petrified housewife, or uses a small child as living shield?
"Five Minutes to Live" is not a very good film, but it's a worthwhile and remarkable thriller for several reasons. Johnny Cash, obviously, even though his acting skills are mediocre at best and the title song isn't exactly an earworm classic. More noteworthy is the fact this is a still relatively early example of a home-invasion thriller; - and a rather brutal one. Possibly inspired by "The Desperate Hours", starring Humphrey Bogart, "Five Minutes to Live" stars Cash as trigger-happy crook Cabot who holds a housewife hostage while his partner sits at the bank where her husband works and demands $70,000. The partner doesn't use a gun or violence but threatens that Cabot will execute his wife if he doesn't pay up. Complications arise when the husband was apparently planning to run off with his mistress, and the phoneline is constantly occupied by callers from the local Ladies' Club.
The concept is original and ensures there are a handful of suspenseful moments. Still, even at barely 80 minutes of running time, "Five Minutes to Live" feels overlong and too many extended parts exist solely of Johnny Cash chatting with the woman or singing the title song (though only the first two-three sentences) while jamming on his guitar. The acting, as said, is poor. It must be quite embarrassing for the ensemble cast when the best performance comes from 7-year-old Ron "Ronnie" Howard!
"Five Minutes to Live" is not a very good film, but it's a worthwhile and remarkable thriller for several reasons. Johnny Cash, obviously, even though his acting skills are mediocre at best and the title song isn't exactly an earworm classic. More noteworthy is the fact this is a still relatively early example of a home-invasion thriller; - and a rather brutal one. Possibly inspired by "The Desperate Hours", starring Humphrey Bogart, "Five Minutes to Live" stars Cash as trigger-happy crook Cabot who holds a housewife hostage while his partner sits at the bank where her husband works and demands $70,000. The partner doesn't use a gun or violence but threatens that Cabot will execute his wife if he doesn't pay up. Complications arise when the husband was apparently planning to run off with his mistress, and the phoneline is constantly occupied by callers from the local Ladies' Club.
The concept is original and ensures there are a handful of suspenseful moments. Still, even at barely 80 minutes of running time, "Five Minutes to Live" feels overlong and too many extended parts exist solely of Johnny Cash chatting with the woman or singing the title song (though only the first two-three sentences) while jamming on his guitar. The acting, as said, is poor. It must be quite embarrassing for the ensemble cast when the best performance comes from 7-year-old Ron "Ronnie" Howard!