Line #20 Film/Seconds


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secsonds_6532.jpg]]
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3	''Seconds'' is a 1966 ScienceFiction film directed by Creator/JohnFrankenheimer, starring Creator/RockHudson, Creator/JohnRandolph, Creator/WillGeer, Creator/JeffCorey, Murray Hamilton and Creator/SalomeJens.
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5	Arthur Hamilton is a middle-aged banker who is restless with his job and his marriage. One day, he is contacted by an old friend (whom he thought was dead), who urges Hamilton to contact an organization simply known as The Company. Mr. Ruby, the representative he meets, presents Hamilton an offer; they will fake his death, and in return, give him a complete surgical makeover - removing his fingerprints, changing his face, teeth and voice, making him look younger - and offer him a chance to make a fresh start with his life. Eventually, Hamilton agrees to it, and he becomes Tony Wilson, a painter. However, he soon discovers it's not all that it's cracked up to be.
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7	It was a BoxOfficeBomb on initial release, but has since become a cult hit. No relation to the [[ComicBook/{{Seconds}} comic book of the same name]].
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10	!!This film provides examples of:
11	* AnAesop: [[spoiler:Life is not a video game which you can just reboot. You have to work to make your life better instead of wishing for a [[DeusExMachina magical solution]].]]
12	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: You don't say...
13	* {{Blackmail}}: When Hamilton hesitates about signing up, Mr. Ruby shows film of Hamilton roughing up a prostitute, which he did after being drugged by the Company, and Ruby implies the footage will be released unless Hamilton agrees to sign on.
14	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: At the bacchanal grape scene, when Tony finally loosens up and dances with Nora, it plays like a sex scene.
15	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Hamilton decides he doesn't want to live his new life, but is ultimately killed to serve as the body of a new client.]]
16	* EnemyEatsYourLunch: Mr. Ruby eats some chicken off of Arthur's plate in his conversation with him.
17	* FaceCam: One of the many great camera effects in the movie.
18	* FakingTheDead: What The Company offers its clients.
19	* FauxAffablyEvil: The Old Man, to a tee. Many of the other employees of the Company count as well.
20	* TheFilmOfTheBook: Adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by David Ely.
21	* GenreBusting: It's an avant-garde/psychological drama/thriller/mystery/mid-life crisis film with a science fiction twist.
22	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: The Old Man, during his bedside conversation with Tony, tells him that he believes the Company provides an important service, and that it's important enough for him to have made compromises in order to keep it going. We soon learn one of the compromises is [[spoiler:having Tony murdered.]]
23	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The Old Man and his corporation don't receive any comeuppance.]]
24	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Nora, whose first eccentric appearance after meeting Tony is to run into the sea and talk to it, then later invites him to a hippie wine festival. [[spoiler:All simply an act to get him to enjoy his new second life, as she's really a company employee.]]
25	* NoNameGiven: Will Geer's character is simply known as "Old Man".
26	* NonIndicativeName: The title, while taken over from the novel, has multiple meanings and connotations.
27	* PunchClockVillain: The surgeon who transformed Arthur into Tony tells him, "You were my best work," [[spoiler:and apologizes just before killing Tony with a cranial drill]].
28	* SleepingSingle: Arthur Hamilton and his wife sleep in single beds, underpinning their loveless marriage.
29	* SmugSnake: The Old Man, who never loses his slimy, reptilian countenance even as he [[spoiler:sends Wilson to his death]].

Context Film / Seconds