‘36 Hours’ Is Slick, Taut Storytelling

As the telltale title indicates, time is of the essence in “36 Hours to Die,” a slick and satisfying thriller premiering Sunday on TNT.

Treat Williams is a vulnerable protagonist as Noah Stone, a brewery owner who suffers a heart attack minutes into the film.

Two months later, Noah must grapple with a tricky ticker and the future of his family when a crafty embezzler (Saul Rubinek) unveils a multimillion-dollar scheme to crush his company.

Fighting back over one weekend, the stalwart Stone calls upon local police and the Feds, but eventually gets more substantial support from his small circle of trusted friends, which includes a retired cop with a hard-nosed rep (an amusingly wry Carroll O’Connor), who proves to be Johnny-on-the-spot.

The spry script from Oscar nominee Robert Rodat (“Saving Private Ryan”) interweaves testy confrontations, subtle humor and bursts of violence, some perpetrated by Scott Hylands as a sinister assailant wielding a nasty ice pick. It also yields a well-drawn relationship between Noah and his scrappy spouse (Kim Cattrall), whose mettle is tested when their lives are on the line.

Essentially, this is a story of one man turning the screws on another--our hero being noble and resourceful, his antagonist cocky and callous. There’s never any doubt who will prevail, but the resolution (crisply directed by Yves Simoneau) is highly watchable just the same.

* “36 Hours to Die” can be seen on TNT Sunday at 8 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight. The network has rated it TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14).