Seconds follows aging Arthur Hamilton, who is selected to have his death faked and undergo surgery so that he can start a new life. It is in fact a rather bland drama masquerading as a thriller. Neither genre works, moving back and forth between the two with no central mood, build-up, or connection. It was interesting to see how this film connected them, but the final product just doesn't work. The drama portion is the most compelling part because the suspense aspect simply does not succeed, despite being directed by Frankenheimer (he previously directed the brilliant original version of The Manchurian Candidate). The drama hit me hard despite its lack of originality, mostly because I was expecting a traditional thriller and was surprised to see its presence in the movie at all. It deals with the age-old question of the meaning of life, the choices we make, and the mistakes we must live with. But it's not worth sitting through the entire movie just to get that little out of it. Instead, go out and rent It's A Wonderful Life because it deals with the same questions more thoroughly and honestly--not to mention that it's more tense because you come to really care for Jimmy Stewart's character as he contemplates suicide.
The acting felt hollow, except for John Randolph and Rock Hudson, who really owned their parts. Most of the cinematography was distracting (especially the distorted, close-up hand-held shots) except for a very few interesting and effective ones. The editing confused instead of clarified, and it tried too hard. There was a lengthy bacchanalia sequence that felt out of place and exploitative. There are so many characters and events that are simply a waste of time; I felt cheated out of an hour of my life, as this movie could've been made much tighter and better in 45 minutes. Plot points were intentionally left muddy and unexplained. I did get something out of the movie, but not anything that would have taken 105 minutes on my own. Don't bother with this movie.IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0060955/