NOTE: The Film Corner's Star Ratings will now appear at the end of the review.
Time Lapse (2014)
Dir. Bradley King
Writers: King and B.P. Cooper
Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn, Amin Joseph, Jason Spisak, John Rhys-Davies
Review By Greg Klymkiw
So you're an artist (Matt O'Leary) living with your gorgeous girlfriend (Danielle Panabaker) and best bro-mantic bud (George Finn) in a nice ground floor suite where you make a comfortable-enough living as the apartment complex caretaker. When the eccentric old guy who (John Rhys-Davies) lives in the suite directly across from yours mysteriously disappears, you enter his place and discover that the walls are covered with Polaroid photos of your front window that have been taken by a mysterious looking contraption pointing straight though the tenant's window at yours.
This is creepy enough, but when you check his storage locker, you discover his rotting body lying on the floor.
Most people would be calling the police, but you don't, because you've discovered that each photo the machine spits out is, in fact, a shot revealing one day into the future - your future and of those who live with you. Even better, is that your bro-mantic bud is a layabout gambler with a penchant for dog racing and with a few modifications, it looks like the machine will determine the future based upon how one poses for the daily pictures.
This is what faces the protagonist of Bradley King's clever, compelling and suspenseful low-budget science fiction thriller Time Lapse. Making the absolute most out of limited locations and a small cast, it's as good, if not better than most studio pictures that might have similar high concept approaches. Unlike most studio efforts, the accent is on character, a genuine building of suspense and a cool twist that takes us into genre hybrid territory of the coolest kind.
Add to the mix, a mega-scumbag bookie (Jason Spisak) and his tough psycho henchman, a curious security guard turned cop (Amin Joseph) and mounting tensions twixt the central trio that dip into film noir territory of sexual tension and backstabbing and you've got a genuinely original and solid entertainment.
King's screenplay (co-written by B.P. Cooper) always keeps you guessing and watching with rapt attention. As well, King's sure-handed direction and a first-rate cast guarantee a good time will be had by all. In a perfect world, the film should have been about fifteen minutes shorter and jettisoned a whack of unnecessary material for even greater punch. I suspect you'll find, like I did, that the last third occasionally feels like it's spinning its wheels, but happily, it delivers a killer denouement that will satisfy in ways that the best dystopian science fiction and dark crime pictures demand.
THE FILM CORNER RATING: ***½ Three-and-a-half Stars
Time Lapse enjoyed its Canadian Premiere at the 2014 edition of the FantAsia International Film Festival in Montreal.
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| If you're a scumbag mob bookie - knowing the future could come in handy. |
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| Knowing the future is a good deal. Then again, maybe not. |
Dir. Bradley King
Writers: King and B.P. Cooper
Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn, Amin Joseph, Jason Spisak, John Rhys-Davies
Review By Greg Klymkiw
So you're an artist (Matt O'Leary) living with your gorgeous girlfriend (Danielle Panabaker) and best bro-mantic bud (George Finn) in a nice ground floor suite where you make a comfortable-enough living as the apartment complex caretaker. When the eccentric old guy who (John Rhys-Davies) lives in the suite directly across from yours mysteriously disappears, you enter his place and discover that the walls are covered with Polaroid photos of your front window that have been taken by a mysterious looking contraption pointing straight though the tenant's window at yours.
This is creepy enough, but when you check his storage locker, you discover his rotting body lying on the floor.
Most people would be calling the police, but you don't, because you've discovered that each photo the machine spits out is, in fact, a shot revealing one day into the future - your future and of those who live with you. Even better, is that your bro-mantic bud is a layabout gambler with a penchant for dog racing and with a few modifications, it looks like the machine will determine the future based upon how one poses for the daily pictures.
This is what faces the protagonist of Bradley King's clever, compelling and suspenseful low-budget science fiction thriller Time Lapse. Making the absolute most out of limited locations and a small cast, it's as good, if not better than most studio pictures that might have similar high concept approaches. Unlike most studio efforts, the accent is on character, a genuine building of suspense and a cool twist that takes us into genre hybrid territory of the coolest kind.
Add to the mix, a mega-scumbag bookie (Jason Spisak) and his tough psycho henchman, a curious security guard turned cop (Amin Joseph) and mounting tensions twixt the central trio that dip into film noir territory of sexual tension and backstabbing and you've got a genuinely original and solid entertainment.
King's screenplay (co-written by B.P. Cooper) always keeps you guessing and watching with rapt attention. As well, King's sure-handed direction and a first-rate cast guarantee a good time will be had by all. In a perfect world, the film should have been about fifteen minutes shorter and jettisoned a whack of unnecessary material for even greater punch. I suspect you'll find, like I did, that the last third occasionally feels like it's spinning its wheels, but happily, it delivers a killer denouement that will satisfy in ways that the best dystopian science fiction and dark crime pictures demand.
THE FILM CORNER RATING: ***½ Three-and-a-half Stars
Time Lapse enjoyed its Canadian Premiere at the 2014 edition of the FantAsia International Film Festival in Montreal.