Timer was a movie that was featured during the Tribeca Film Festival. (Article first published as Movie Review: TiMER on Blogcritics)
This unique blend of chick-flick + sci-fi is really something. Starting out a bit slow, it picks up speed and depth and suddenly you are immersed in what is going on — and by the time the movie ends, you wonder what is really going to happen? I loved it and the ‘significant other’ was bored for about the first 20 minutes and by the end, even he had to say it was not at all a chick-flick but a funny, engaging movie to wrap your head around the notion of pre-determined mates. Is that what love has come down to– devices that tell you about the ONLY person for you?
What if a clock/device could count you down to the very moment you meet your soul mate? In this modern-day meets futuristic version of Los Angeles, a revolutionary invention called the TiMER actually brings this dream to life.
For a reasonable installation fee of $79.95 and a moderate monthly charge, a TiMER is implanted in the wrist and promises to accurately display the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until the owner’ date with destiny– that is providing your Mr or Ms. Right is wearing one too. It is not easy, nor is it fool-proof as Oona O’Leary finds out.
Mix in family members–mom & step-dad met via timer and Oona winds up with a step-sister Steph (Michelle Borth) who has the same birthday and is the physical and dialectic oppposite of Oona -sharing an apartment with Oona along with the Timer implant too and it gets to be quite curious. While family, friends and commercials move contentedly through life with predetermined romantic fates, Oona seems alone and not so happy– while her sister Steph goes through life from one casual encounter to another while her timer has a countdown of about 2 years. While Steph feels safe having flings without any commitments.
What’s curious about this film is that it starts off with Oona being so desperate and that’s where it could lose a lot of people in the first 20-30 minutes but once Oona meets Mikey and starts to see him not as potential-Timer mate (which he is not for 3 very clear reasons. According to him, he’s got 4 months left on his Timer and second, his Timer is a fake he uses to meet girls. Third– and something that’s barely touched on is that he’s 22 and she’s almost 30). Eventually she finds out that Mikey’s Timer is a fake and they split up. His justification for the Timer was to give himself an even chance with women in the Timer-obsessed world (which comes across quite clearly) and that he would never stand a chance to have a solid relationship without it. By having a fake Timer, it removed the anxiety from any potential meet-up. Oona took a page from Steph’s book and thought “why not a casual hook-up”? but Oona starts to realize that his company and their relationship are genuinely making her happy.
The writer/director Jac Schaeffer take this film in various directions but doesn’t quite circle back well. Oona’s younger brother (who the dad is isn’t clear but it might be the Oona’s stepfather/Steph’s dad) who is all of 15 and gets his Timer before he can even get a learner’s permit and it goes off when he meets the housekeeper’s daughter who is also 15 and they are supposed to be soul mates for life– at 15? It’s funny in the movie but it does require you to suspend your disbelieft. Thankfully the two teens are left unmarried and have the chance to go about their lives.
Timer is perfect for anyone. More than just fun, it is a highly thoughtful and thought-provoking film.
Oona does go off on a long overdue journey to find her dad who she has had no connection with– and it turns out he is the one who dumped the mom because he knew the marriage was going south. Unfortunately the women this man has hooked up– none of them have been his Timer mate–and he’s not in the film long enough for more than a bare-bones explanation nor does he make much of an impact. The larger impact comes from the live-in girlfriend of the dad who stays with him because she does love him– alcoholic flaws and all and has Oona further questioning whether Timer is for her or not.
Emma Caulfield is rich and realistic in putting across the desperation in not finding the right man soon enough. Her blank Timer meant the right guy was not in her periphery or had a Timer yet and as she anxiety clock slowly unwound with Mikey, she no longer worried so much about the Timer– to the point of considering having it removed so that she could be with Mikey.
Michelle Borth as Steph meets a guy she is sure would be perfect for Oona but Oona blows him off and Steph finds herself atracted to the man despite that the’s Timer-free. He’s a widower and never had a timer and his comment that his late wife was the “love of his life” has Steph thinking about the purpose of Timers. JoBeth Williams did a dandy job as the mom convinced that Timers were the ONLY way to find real happiness — and that Oona is the byproduct of an unhappy first marriage that she left (and took Oona with her) to find her true love courtesy of Timer.
The denoument of the film comes when Steph and Oona decide to remove their Timers together and while Steph proceeds, Oona’s suddenly goes off– and Mikey, Steph and Oona all freak out for different reasons. However all becomes clear and moot when Oona meets the guy Steph has fallen for — the Timer-free guy had gotten the Timer to show Steph he was willing to chance it and instead it goes off in concert with Oona’s. What happens next is pretty ambiguous. Nothing is neatly tied up. Mikey runs off into the distance. Steph seems to be extremely unhappy and vanishes while Mom is pleased as punch. Oona on the other-hand seems a bit unsure and dazed if this is truly the right man for her.
Looking back on the movie and through this review, maybe I don’t like it quite as much as I like the performances given by the Oona, Steph, the mom and Mikey. They are the centerpiece to the entire story and everyone else is simply on the periphery. I think the stepdad has maybe 2-3 lines in the entire movie.
Those four roles are the crucial elements and everyone does a great job but the writer/director left lots of loose ends and no matter how great an actor you are, if the writing and direction isn’t there, there’s nothing left to be done.
Pre-order this flick now! It’s perfect for anyone and it’s more than fun– it’s thought-provoking.
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Stevie , LA-Story.com
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