TiMER

I picked this film on Netflix not knowing what it was about. Then I got introduced from the opening scenes to a very interesting concept and was drawn in by an original idea. I don't know if this was done in any other film, but it is the first time that I have seen it in a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The original concept was refreshing and the main character was a lovable girl who was looking for love like many of us. (By the way, for those who didn't remember, she was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played Xander's fiancée). Her situation (minus the obvious thing that we don't have access to, at least right now) is quite believable as I know many people in her predicament, searching for someone to love and to spend the rest of their lives with. It is a romantic, dramatic and funny movie that sits well with me and is quite enjoyable to watch.

TiMER (2009)

A really fabulous, tightly written, tightly focused movie. It has a smart, sci-fi hook: people can wear a "timer" that predicts when they will meet their true love. This becomes the device around which the really charming, lovable characters play with the idea of true love, and love, and relationship, and the predictability (or not) of all of that. And it is done without a shred of darkness--I mean, it's an upbeat, rose-colored view of this oddly painted future. There's a hint of Juno in the tone, and maybe Sex and the City in the sorting out of relationships by the two main women.

The production, or feel, of things isn't as low budget as you might think given its low budget, but it is filmed with a modern television kind of flatness, or brightness. For all the Big Brother eeriness to it all, the world of these two half sisters and their prospective boyfriends is downright happy. Even the old folks home is a comic paradise, more or less.

What really makes the picture work are the two leading women, who play their upbeat diffidence and sarcasm with wide eyes and cute smiles. Their fast comebacks are razor sharp but never quite slashing. Equal to them but in a smaller role is their chipper mother, a paradigm of American good will wearing blinders. And the one boyfriend, the cute (of course) guy who plays in a band, happily immature, is also spot on. So, with a cast like this of complete unknowns playing their hearts out with delicacy and fearlessness, following a quirky and impossible futuristic notion, you can't help but kick back and laugh.

While the above review would say that this movie was somewhat inspiring, I would tend to disagree. Timer is a movie which promises to challenge the stereotype of one person for everyone, but in the end re-enforces it. There really isn't one person for everyone, and I was hoping that the movie would relate this to the audience, but the ending was flat and awful.

The main character falls for a complete stranger after having a wonderful time with a perfectly wonderful younger man. (nope, not buying it). What this says and tries to re-enforce to us as an audience is that we should all date our own age, and anything other isn't the right person for us.

Examples Her father has a timer but it isn't synced with the woman he's living with (much younger than him) Her mother and step-father both have timers and they are the same age.

She is 30 and her love interest is 22, the timer doesn't think they should be together.

She and her sister's love interest both have timers that sync and they are roughly the same age.

Their younger brother is 14 and his timer goes off seeing another 14 year old girl.

I was, for the most part, completely into this movie before the ending. It was well acted and had some great ideas. But, it turns out there is no enlightenment at all, just the same old society influenced bullshit, one person for you, the same age as you, and there's no one else for you.

Bottom line, this movie is just a huge let down. Maybe it was my fault for wanting it to be deeper and have a more meaningful ending. But no, it's just the same old crap you've seen before.

Don't waste your time with this one, it's a huge let down.

I went into "TiMER" mainly drawn into the premise, somewhat expecting the film to not live up to what I thought was a brilliant and fascinating concept. But it ended up exceeding my expectations, and I am now completely enamored by this film.

"TiMER" is as close as a film is going to get to being this year's "(500) Days of Summer," in that it's a romantic comedy, but an unconventional one, and one that really comes out and says something (or at least proposes a question or two) about love instead of being two hours of cheesy chick-flick fluff. It's thought-provoking and will give you plenty to discuss with a friend after seeing it, and at the same time it's very enjoyable and entertaining. It's full of truly laugh-out-loud and slightly quirky humor, and it has a couple good twists I didn't see coming.

One other thing I loved about "TiMER" is the characters. Many romantic comedies have the one-dimensional supporting characters who are just there for the sake of filling the role of "main character's bff," etc. But all of the supporting characters in "TiMER" were multi- dimensional and distinctive, and they all had their own stories that I became invested in without detracting from the main focus of Oona's story.

Whether you're looking for the next romantic comedy that strays a bit from the prescribed path, or you're looking to answer the "what if?" this film proposes, or you're just looking for a quality independent film of any sort, "TiMER" will be well worth your time.

Every romantic comedy could use a little injection of the originality of "TiMER." By far the most interesting love stories come from independent filmmakers these days and Jac Schaeffer's debut is another shining example. Sure, science-fiction concepts and love stories aren't exactly bread and butter, but "TiMER" opens up infinite possibilities for discussion about what true love really is while remaining lively, entertaining and sharply written.

The film revolves around a concept that's simple enough: what if you could find out the day you were to meet your soul mate just by having a timer installed on your wrist? If scientific implausibility bothers you, skip "TiMER," because the film operates on this assumption entirely. Former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Emma Caulfield stars as Oona, a woman on the verge of 30 but whose timer is useless because as it turns out, her supposed soul mate doesn't have one. Although her story is the main thread, there are numerous subplots that explore the various possibilities of the implications of such a device.

The greater question at hand then becomes "what if love lost all its predictability?" How would we choose to live our lives? Oona is a successful orthodontist who desperately wants to know who "the one" is. She's taken numerous guys she has met to get timers installed to see if they're him, but to no avail. Her frustration and the influence of her promiscuous stepsister Steph (Michelle Borth) whose timer won't go off until she's over 40 lead her to a fling with a younger guy named Mikey (John Patrick Amedori) whose timer has about four months left on it.

Much of the earlier drama is regarding the question of whether two people who have proof that they aren't meant for each other should become involved. This situation and many other hypotheticals that arise in the film are tough; we barely understand love as it exists in reality, so how can one expect Schaeffer to capture a totally made-up version of it? Even if there are some gaps, Schaeffer's clearly thought through all the possibilities of what relationship drama (that's also between family and friends) would look like in this society and it shows. Credit also belongs to Caulfield, who's forced to embody this "hypothetical" struggle internally and instantly jives with our sympathies.

Schaeffer's also a heck of a writer. Some studio would be wise to swoop her up to write romantic comedies (in part because she's a woman and there aren't enough of them writing rom-coms). There wasn't an ounce of dialogue that felt cliché, no jokes that didn't feel organic to the characters making them (namely Borth, who's excellent) or the situations they came from.

That brings us to the ending. I have to pity any writer who has to resolve a romantic comedy, especially one that challenges our perceptions as much as "TiMER." The need for a satisfying ending is more powerful with romance than any other genre and Schaeffer already has to be poignant because this is a high-concept film. She does well. It's a bit rough and she could make a better case for her decision, but at least we can take solace in the fact that it's not a giant cliché waiting to crack on our head. That, and the rest of the film (especially the themes and raised questions) was pretty darn good.

~Steven C

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