A Girl, a Guy, a Space Helmet

Solid storytelling, nuanced portrayals, and a simple (yet not too simple) score paint a picture of an innocent love that just may come to be. Relying upon the viewer's desire to see the good guy get the girl in the end, the film tosses some creative wrenches into the works along the way in order to keep the plot from becoming too hackneyed.

Actor Anthony Backman carries the piece with an innocence that will remind many lovelorn viewers of those bygone days of primary school crushes and while we may not have been so fortunate to have felt reciprocity, we long for Backman's Kipling to.

It is an almost assured victory again and again only to have the hero derailed by Ms. Goetz (voraciously enjoyed by Stephanie Keefer) who seems almost omnipresent at times. It would begin to seem turgid if not for the script's deftness at just hinting at suspense without making it too much of a crutch and shifting the feel of the film away from the playful drama.

Dr. Kipling's not alone in his mission though and is assisted by friends known and unknown, each relationship distinct and imparting a bit of wisdom, giving Kipling room to grow. A special mention at this point for Heather Howe's excellent abilities as Rhonda having to play both alluring friend and memorable foil in a challengingly brief amount of time.

The overall feel of the film is one of joy and exploration. Writer/Director Mike Timm does a more than adequate job of taking us on Kipling's journey. There's enough science fiction to keep a lay person thinking, fantasy to keep a realist feeling, and innocent love to keep the school kid in all of us hoping. One might say 'A Guy...' could have used a little more personal danger to Kipling, however, as the antagonists never pose more of a threat than the very real danger of losing the possibility of love.

But you'd have to be a space cadet to think anything could be more motivating than that.