Seconds (1966) Director: John Frankenheimer Rating: 4 Ambien (out of 5)On the surface, Seconds is the story of the myth of the ultimate male fantasy. Imagine The Truman Show voyeurism with the lustiness and self-loathing of a Woody Allen character.Arthur Hamilton (John Randolf) is a successful but miserable banker, the man in the gray flannel suit who is known for his silences. He has a loving wife but their marriage is on life support. His grim life is will soon end, one feels, without him experiencing real passion or joy.A mysterious phone calls leads him to a company who promises to a give him a new life. It’s the world’s swankiest witness protection program. Plastic surgery transforms him into the handsome Rock Hudson. He’s given a house on the beach in Malibu, a servant, and the life of an artist. On the surface it seems ideal.Of course not all is well in paradise. Hamilton (now Hudson) is still the same morose man underneath the good looks and enviable lifestyle. He meets Nora Marcus (the superb and underrated Salome Jens) on the beach. She’s the divorced mother of two who is the mirror opposite of Hamilton. Her beauty is faded by the weariness of her life. She left her wealthy husband and the lifestyle he provided in order to live as a bohemian. In the best scene in the movie, she takes Hamilton to a nudist grape stomping “bacchanal” in Santa Barbara. Hamilton can’t relax enough to enjoy himself in a genuine way and, later, he uses drink to loosen up enough to be the man he has been “reborn” to be.The critic Peter Wilshire writes that Seconds “is a disturbing film to watch. With its unresolved, horrific ending, it’s possibly one of the most depressing films ever made.” I disagree. I didn’t find the movie depressing at all. The movie did leave me with the feeling of 1960s Cold War paranoia, although that’s not the topic in any respect. But I don’t think this is an accident that it felt foreboding. Fr...