The grueling, Nickelodeon-produced action-fantasy Clockstoppers botches what could be the most mischievous power since Scott Baio's telekinesis in the 1982 comedy Zapped!: a wristwatch that speeds up time for the user until the rest of the world seems to be standing still. Since the PG-rated film targets early adolescents and under, the hero can't follow Baio into the girls' locker room, or fall prey to violent psychosis as in Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man. But for all his exposure to gee-whiz gadgetry as an actor on Star Trek: The Next Generation and director of the last two entries in the Trek film series, Jonathan Frakes seems determined to have as little fun with the device as possible. Once the watch is discovered, he sets aside about 10 minutes for half-hearted whimsy, then spends the rest of the movie constructing a routine espionage thriller for kids, spruced up by the stop-motion effects they were too young to watch in The Matrix. Worse still, Clockstoppers wastes the sweet charisma of star Jesse Bradford, whose understated lead performance in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 Depression-era memoir King Of The Hill was one of the best by a child actor in recent memory. Looking just about ready to make that crucial transition into adult roles, Bradford plays the teenage son of an ace mathematician and college professor (Robin Thomas), who receives the magic watch from inventor French Stewart, a former student who needs him to fix one last glitch. While his dad is away at a convention, Bradford stumbles upon the watch and accidentally activates it, delighting his would-be girlfriend (Paula Garcés) with his ability to stop time. But when evil technocrat Michael Biehn and his cronies kidnap Thomas to get their gizmo back, Bradford has to use "hyper-time" to rescue his father from a heavily secured compound. Outside of the synergistic pop soundtrack and Stewart's sitcom mugging, Clockstoppers shows unusual restraint for Nickelodeon, a network that likes to portion out entertainment by the nanosecond. The effects are also surprisingly elegant for a modest production, but Frakes and his screenwriters are in such a hurry to move the plot forward that they expend little creative energy on the wonders and pranks of freezing time. Why are there no bras removed? Why don't any school bullies get their comeuppance? How about nuclear disarmament, or maybe a shopping spree? Of all the wild fantasies teenagers might consider while watching Clockstoppers, the chance to outwit Michael Biehn in real time probably isn't one of them.