# Films that are \*not\* in real time--but pretty darn close **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 18, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169 "2013-09-18T19:14:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/1 "2013-09-18T19:14:38Z")
The story of the Gary Cooper classic _High Noon_ starts some time between 10 and 10:30 am, and goes until around 12:30pm. So loosely, a 150-minute story reduced to an 85-minute run time, less than a 2:1 ratio. At no time does _High Noon_ pretend to be happening in real time, but the pressure of the clock is a continuous element in the story-telling. What other films can you name that operate in a similar fashion? Not just “the story takes place in one 24-hour period”, but one where the entire story takes place in that highly restricted time frame (but _not_ in a _24_-type “real time” manner). Let’s shoot for that 2:1 ratio as a benchmark. Also, don’t count films like _Sunset Blvd_ or _Fight Club_, where the beginning and ending of the films are separated by mere minutes, but the films are almost entirely told in flashback. Any other movies come to mind? ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/2 "2013-09-18T19:35:46Z")
From the thread title alone, I thought of [Nick of Time](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113972/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1). ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/3 "2013-09-18T19:44:02Z")
_Phone Booth_ (2002) takes place in a fairly short period of time with the central character trapped in a phone booth, and can’t leave or a sniper will shoot him. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/4 "2013-09-18T19:46:15Z")
United 93 ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/5 "2013-09-18T19:48:33Z")
A few I thought of: Run Lola Run Rope 16 Blocks Before Sunset (and probably the other two in the series?) ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/6 "2013-09-18T19:58:04Z")
I think Dr. Strangelove is close ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/7 "2013-09-18T20:00:37Z")
**The Notebook** seemed to last about 60 years, so… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/8 "2013-09-18T20:02:06Z")
_American Graffiti_ takes place in a single night but I think the ratio is close to 10:1. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/9 "2013-09-18T20:04:06Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > _Phone Booth_ (2002) takes place in a fairly short period of time with the central character trapped in a phone booth, and can’t leave or a sniper will shoot him. I thought this one was supposed to be real-time. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/10 "2013-09-18T20:05:12Z")
Speed? ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/11 "2013-09-18T20:05:50Z")
I think [Buried](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462758/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_15) is close to real time but I haven’t seen it. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/12 "2013-09-18T22:27:44Z")
12 Angry Men? ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/13 "2013-09-18T22:56:05Z")
Titanic. I bet for some, three hours felt like three days… ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/14 "2013-09-18T22:59:41Z")
[Where Eagles Dare.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065207/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) Except for the first 10 minutes or so, the entire film is pretty much in real time. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/15 "2013-09-19T00:18:35Z")
If I understand the question correctly, **[Rope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_(film))** easily qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![MrBurger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MrBurger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBurger)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/16 "2013-09-19T00:31:06Z")
Except for the beginning, there’s My Dinner with Andre and the much superior Andy Kaufman film My Breakfast with Blassie costarring pro wrestler Freddie Blassie. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/17 "2013-09-19T00:31:11Z")
_Timecode_ showed four stories occurring simultaneously in real time. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/18 "2013-09-19T01:10:41Z")
The entire movie wasn’t in real time, but I was impressed when, at the end of the original William Cameron Menzies juvenile sf film, _Invaders from Mars_, they set the time delay on the bomb for five minutes and, by golly, it takes five minutes of real time before the bomb goes off. I timed it. I timed it partly because five minutes is a LOT longer than you think it should be, and they ended up padding that countdown with a lot of photomontages of scenes from earlier in the movie, and it seems to take forever. there are undoubtedly other countdown scenes in movies where they really do take the amount of time that the timer says, but I don’t know of any. Incidentally, director Fred Zinneman had a lot of clocks in _High Noon_ to emphasize the passing if time. Many years laster, when he made _Day of the Jackal_, he did the same thing – only with calendars, to emphasize the countdown to the assassination. When I saw that film, it was clear to me qwhat he was doing, but hadn’t seen _High Noon_, so I didn’t realize how he was echoing his earlier film. (_Day of the Jackal_, of course, wasn’t in anything like “Real Time”) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/19 "2013-09-19T01:11:32Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If I understand the question correctly, **[Rope](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope_(film))** easily qualifies. Except that _Rope_ clearly _is_ presented in real time, so doesn’t (note thread title). > [@malaka](#): > > From the thread title alone, I thought of Nick of Time. Ditto this. > [@Little Nemo](#): > > Timecode showed four stories occurring simultaneously in real time. And this. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169/20 "2013-09-19T01:26:35Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Except that _Rope_ clearly _is_ presented in real time, so doesn’t (note thread title). An analysis of **Rope** indicated the film in 80 minutes long, but shows 100 minutes of action, so it’s not actually in real time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/films-that-are-not-in-real-time-but-pretty-darn-close/669169.md?page=2)