TiMER (2009)

[ulthar]

TiMER (2009) is an interesting look into an alternate timeline where people know when true-love happens.  Or doesn't.

Imagine a world where you know the date and time you will meet your true love.  No magic, no guessing.

This is the world created in TiMER, reminiscent of a weird, lighter hearted cross between TOTAL RECALL and THE FINAL CUT.  The premise is that some people have attached to their wrist a technology that depicts the day and time they will meet their true love, but only if that person also has a TiMER installed.  If the "one" doesn't have a TiMER, the device just reads blank.

What if you knew you would not meet your true love for 40 years.  How would you live your life?

What if your TiMER read blank.  How then would you live your life?

What if you met someone you felt strongly for, even loved, but could not "love" because that person did not match the technologically provided data on your wrist?

TiMER takes a more serious turn than most Romantic movies.  I'm not sure I can call this one a "comedy."  Yes, there were a few funny moments, but this is a bit more serious Sci Fi - an exploration into the nature of love, human emotion and relationships, as well as the role technology plays in defining them.  The ending was not "expected," either.

The acting performances here were strong, in my opinion.  Emma Caulfield turns in a good performance in the female lead and "Dexter" costar Desmond Harrington gives good presence in a minor part.  

But the real strength of TiMER lies in the "what if."  As THE FINAL CUT asked us how we might act differently if our whole lives were being recorded, TiMER asks us how we might act differently if we knew someone was or was not "the one."

I'm going 4 out of 5 on this one.  It asks the hard questions and does not pull punches on the movie's version of the answers.  You won't walk away from this one thinking the makers (namely writer/director Jac Schaeffer) took the easy way out.

"TiMER, take the guess work out of love. "

[Jack]

That sounds really interesting, thanks for the tip.  I added it to the Netflix queue.

[ulthar]

I find it interesting that both this one and THE FINAL CUT have similar old-style sci fi themes (ie, a tech drives the story and through that, both films ask some tough social questions), and both were made by first-time writer-directors.

[Mofo Rising]

I liked TiMER.

I remember watching it because somebody said it was like a Philip K. Dick story. It isn't. I can only conjecture that that person could only like sci-fi stories if they were name checked by somebody "cool."

At any rate, it's a pretty good independent movie that takes one sci-fi concept and explores it for its human potential. How would it be if you could have a timer to tell you when you met your perfect mate? I imagine it would only be second to the flawed Shallow Hal where inner beauty equaled outside beauty.

But then, there are the downsides, where some people are destined to meet their soul mate when they're in their 60s. Not so much fun. And if that's the case, what good is it?

The inevitable, but still unexpected, conclusion of the movie was very well done. Definitely a film worth watching.