Once again found my self paroozing through the Netflix Instant options on my xbox 360 (this blog is wishfully sponsored by both) and came across this little indie gem. Saw the interesting poster, read the words time travel, and I dove right in.
This film follows the time traveling exploits of Pack, a man from 48 years in the future sent back to get a clean air sample, the catch being he can only remain in the past for 11 minutes and he keeps coming back to one particular night. To add to the confusion, his travels aren't occurring in sequential order but rather a purposeful one. Pulling time travel out of the sci-fi and more into the world of drama is handled expertly by Bob Gebert; who directed, wrote, produced, and co-starred in this film. Shot on a small budget, and amazingly in one day, this film embodies the aspect of indie films I love the most, making an awesome film with little means and a lot of determination.
Not to be just a one trick pony though the story and cinematography are likewise great. The story is beautifully cater to the shooting in one day or possibly the other way around depending on your point of view. Cinematography must have been a nightmare to coordinate but it came out great with each scene or time-tumble keeping the film moving and never losing step. Acting and great music choice also add to the allure of the film with out trying to stand out but sidle into your memory.
Overall giving this one a 4 out of 5, one hell of film. Looks like it is only on Netflix Instant for now (link in the title) since there is no official dvd, hopefully soon their will be. Watch the film, tell people about, and if you have access to a time machine go back in time and make me watch this film sooner.
Posts
The more I think about the movie, the more I can appreciate it... but that's only because as time moves on I am further and further divorced from the non-climax and non-resolution that the film provided.
ReplyDeleteIt was cleverly made and well put together, but ultimately I think the cast and crew were very limited by their oh-so-indie and risky timetable. The acting was very stiff for some very stiff dialog, which I think would have worked itself out had they taken more than one day to shoot it.
The story came in fast but then pff... gone. The saving grace was that it was about time travel, and that makes it complex, so any reasonable amount of a storied sequence is something to celebrate. They pull it off, fantastically, but they do so without giving us a real story which was a little disappointing... and could have made the post-credits resolution worthwhile.
Overall, I agree that this movie deserves to be watched. The creators definitely jumped in head first and said "we're making a movie in one day, it's about time travel, and yeah we really can do it." They certainly succeed in the important aspects, I would just have preferred a little more conflict beyond I-need-to-get-this-girl-in-my-warm-time-bubble.
The "shouldn't you be bunting something?" line is something that will stick with me as one of my favorite plants/payoffs in a movie.