Review: ‘TiMER’

I will start this review off by saying something I have already stated many times on this site. ‘TiMER’ was one of my favorite films at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival and it better get a nice wide release very soon. Since it’s premiere in April, ‘TiMER’ has been wowing audiences at some other film festivals and even picked up the award for Best Film at the Connecticut Film Festival. An honor it definitely deserved.

In ‘TiMER’, Oona O’Leary (Emma Caulfield) is waiting to meet her true love. The problem is that her biological clock is ticking, even if her TiMER isn’t. A TiMER is a device implanted in your wrist, which counts down to the exact day you will meet your one and only. Oona’s is blank, which means the love of her life doesn’t have one. So Oona only dates TiMER-less guys in hopes that when she convinces them to get a one, it will beep and they will live happily ever after. Her sister Steph (Michelle Borth) has a different approach. Her TiMER is a long way off from the big day so she hooks up with guys approaching “D-day”. But what happens when Oona falls for someone who’s TiMER is about to expire and Steph starts to have feelings for someone who doesn’t even have one?

I know what you are thinking and the answer is yes; this film is proof that there are still some original ideas out there. ‘TiMER’ is a brilliant concept that is perfectly executed. I was blown away by what first time writer/director Jac Schaeffer delivered on screen. Jac’s writing is inventive and her dialogue is equally clever and hilarious. The film looks fantastic thanks to the cinematography skills of Harris Charalambous. I’d also like to give props to the production design, specifically the TiMER store and the devices themselves. They are a spot on parody. (I won’t name names but think about the lower case i) The device brings an element of sci-fi to the film as well as a satirical element of how we rely on technology. In addition to all the great work behind the scenes, the talent in front of the camera is quite impressive. In other words, the casting is perfect. Emma Caulfield & Michelle Borth are both as funny and talented as they are beautiful.   John Patrick Amedori and Desmond Harrington are great as the girls respective love interests, each bringing a certain level of depth and charm to their characters.

Obviously TiMER is not a typical romantic comedy. Similar to the recently released ‘500 Days of Summer’, this is not a chick flick. True, this is a film about love and relationships but the relationships are closer in spirit to a Judd Apatow movie than a Matthew McConaughey rom-com. Another thing differentiating it from the all too common rom-com is its eventual ‘R’ rating…unless they are forced to make cuts by whoever picks it up, which I truly hope does not happen. The film is not very vulgar but there is some frank sex talk and quite a few F bombs. It actually surprised me at first, not because it was unnecessary, but because this film would be a much easier sale had it been PG-13 equivalent. It is a shame that because of our joke of a ratings system this film will have a smaller audience but there is humor and realism stemming from the profanity that simply should not be edited out. However, if a hack job does occur, this film is still infinitely better than most of the crap to come out of Hollywood.

As you can tell, I love this movie. If it were a girl, my TiMER would have gone off while watching it. Ok, that doesn’t really make sense but you get the point. It is the perfect date movie for girls and guys. It has a lot to say about love and leaves you thinking about it after the credits roll. It had me wondering what the world would be like if the TiMER were real. I even started thinking of some alternate scenarios involving the TiMER and how relationships can form around it. Jac Schaeffer set the bar high and I can’t wait to see what she works on next.

Jerry Cavallaro – www.AreYouStuckLikeChuck.com