Five Days to Midnight

Drawing liberally from the already-remade film "D.O.A.," Sci Fi's latest miniseries casts Timothy Hutton as a professor given a chance to solve -- and maybe prevent -- his own murder. The payoff isn't quite worthy of the buildup, and the buildup drags on too long by following the two-hour premiere with a trio of hourlong installments.

Drawing liberally from the already-remade film “D.O.A.” as well as various adventures in time travel, Sci Fi’s latest miniseries casts Timothy Hutton as a professor given a chance to solve — and maybe prevent — his own murder. As is so often the case with such stories, the payoff isn’t quite worthy of the buildup, and the buildup drags on too long by following the two-hour premiere with a trio of hourlong installments. That said, it’s a reasonably entertaining ride for those willing to indulge in a bit of spooky silliness.

Revisiting a question raised by roughly every third “Twilight Zone” episode, “Five Days to Midnight” ponders whether the future can be altered while simultaneously creating a who’ll-do-it mystery, developing motives for multiple suspects in connection with a crime that hasn’t yet happened.

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Hutton plays J.T. Neumeyer, a physics prof who, on the 10th anniversary of his wife’s death, finds a strange metallic case with his initials on it. Inside there’s a file with yellowed newspaper articles and a police report recounting his unsolved death in a strip club — five days from that date.

At first, J.T. has trouble believing it — until events begin to mirror details contained in the file, convincing him he has received a warning foretelling his death. Seeking help in unraveling the mystery, he enlists a surly cop (Randy Quaid), his brilliant but emotionally disturbed grad student (Hamish Linklater) and a buddy who works at the local newspaper (Giancarlo Esposito).

A catalyst behind his plight, meanwhile, could be new girlfriend Claudia (Kari Matchett), whose mysterious past could play a role in J.T.’s lack of a future. He also labors to shield his precocious daughter (Gage Golightly) as events spin out of control, leading toward an inevitable showdown.

Along the way, J.T. wrestles with big-picture questions about changing history, whether it can be done and if it’s worth potentially triggering chaotic consequences. “All I want to do is see Saturday,” he concludes.

Director Michael Watkins’ episodic TV credits include “The X-Files,” and he captures a similar kind of eerie atmosphere. Still, the five-hour format requires milking beats beyond what the team of writers involved can sustain, rendering Sci Fi’s claim that “Midnight” offers “high-octane, ‘D.O.A.’-meets-’24’ suspense” more than a little hyperbolic.

For the most part, the performances are strong, with Hutton coming across as every bit the ordinary guy caught in a Hitchcockian nightmare. Matchett provides a plucky romantic interest, and Quaid grumbles his way through the standard cop dialogue.

As for the generally unsatisfying conclusion, the advantage of a limited series is that Sci Fi only needs to entice the audience enough to get them to the finish, sort of like a reality TV show.

In that respect, how viewers feel on the other side of “Midnight” isn’t of much consequence, though many might wish in hindsight that some benevolent force from the future had thought to pass along a message warning them not to bother.

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