Nick of Time

Gene Watson arrives with his daughter Lynn at Union Station in Los Angeles. Two men in suits, Mr. Smith and Ms. Jones, study the crowd and discuss a plan that immediately marks Gene as a target. The scene sets in motion a dangerous abduction and a race against time.

Smith and Jones flash badges and convince Gene they are police officers. They whisk Gene and Lynn into a waiting van without justification. Gene senses that something is terribly wrong as the strangers tighten their control.

Inside the van, Smith pistol-whips Gene’s leg and delivers a chilling ultimatum: kill California Governor Eleanor Grant by 1:30 p.m. or they will kill his daughter. Gene realizes the impossible choice he faces and the danger close at hand intensifies. The clock becomes a weapon in their hands.

Gene and Lynn are taken to the Bonaventure Hotel, where a campaign appearance is scheduled. Gene tries to warn people at the event about the trap, but Smith and Jones relentlessly harass him to stay silent. The tense moment foreshadows how deeply the conspiracy reaches into the campaign.

Gene encounters Krista Brooks, a campaign assistant who believes his story. She urges him to report the danger to the governor’s husband, Brendan Grant, and becomes a crucial ally in exposing the plot. Her support gives Gene a rational target for action amid the chaos.

Brendan Grant and a campaign lobbyist appear to doubt Gene’s account until Smith suddenly shoots Krista in Brendan’s suite. The killing brutalizes the hotel crew and exposes the scale of the conspiracy. Gene endures the aftermath, determined to keep his daughter safe.

Gene discovers that nearly everyone in the campaign is involved in the plot, controlled by a mastermind who seeks revenge for the governor breaking promises. He finds Huey, a disabled war veteran who polishes shoes in the hotel, and Huey reluctantly agrees to help reach the governor. Huey’s practical aid becomes crucial to challenging the plot.

Eleanor Grant notices Brendan’s suspicious behavior and Krista’s disappearance, and she realizes Gene’s warning may be true. She determines to address the danger publicly, rallying her supporters and confronting the conspiracy. The governor’s decision shifts the balance toward truth and exposure.

At a campaign event, the governor greets supporters in a ballroom as Gene takes out a gun and shoots at the projector room where Smith is watching him. The shot triggers panic, a stampede, and a confrontation with security. Brendan’s plan begins to crumble as the governor’s awareness grows.

Huey stalls Jones, who is in the van with Lynn after she cannot get a signal from Smith. He then annoys her with a squeegee man scheme to the point of a violent confrontation in which Lynn shoots his wooden leg. Gene interrupts and arrives to confront Smith, turning the chase back toward the conspirators.

Smith, mortally wounded, acknowledges Gene’s transformation before Gene shoots him. Huey incapacitates Jones with his prosthetic leg and wing-tip shoe, preventing a final attack on Gene and Lynn. The mastermind escapes, stepping on Gene’s broken wristwatch as they leave the hotel.

An alternate TV ending shows the governor thanking Gene and Huey for saving her life, providing a more definitive epilogue. The standard ending leaves the mastermind’s fate and the political fallout more open. The film closes on a note of fragile relief amid the conspiracy’s exposure.