Altered Hours

So, here we are, yet again, another review of a movie that could've not been made and the world wouldn't have skipped a beat.

The story is interesting enough and the movie is shot well for the most part.

Where it all falls apart and just swirls down the drain like a treatment of drano is the cast. That's right, all the actors and actresses, and I use those words very lightly, is just awful. Not one of them, well there's one, but none of the rest have any redeeming qualities and they all get very annoying and on your nerves at some point. Now, I said there was one, the cooky professor scientist. He's actually got redeeming qualities and plays his part well. The rest of them? Well there's probably a pretty good reason you have never heard of them or seen them in anything else.

I'd say skip it, there's better stuff out there, but if you're having a hard time finding something, you could fall on this one smh give it a watch. There's worse things you could watch or be doing.

I'm glad I gave it a shot. It's better than the reviews would lead you to believe. Lately I have started to bypass the reviews and watch based only on the description. This movie does require you to pay attention, or you may get confused. There are a lot of jumps in the story, like any good movie about time travel paradox. If you can put the iPad down and just enjoy the movie it's worth the watch.

For any story about time-travel there are going to be confusing and unclear parts. How these are handled somewhat defines the experience. Altered Hours uses the premise of drug-induced time-travel/viewing to avoid paradoxes such as those encountered in time-machine stories. While the concept is good, the actual film making is pretty woeful, indeed terrible in parts. The main protagonists' acting is bearable, but some of the supporting characters are appalling, really dire in places. However, the outcome of the story, the raison d'être for the behaviour of the characters is finally well explained. I was quite moved by the ending, indeed it was what saved the film for me. It's a clever story, poorly delivered. I look forward to the next story from these writers in the future - hopefully with a better budget and cast!

Positive reviews for this film are forgiving and I think based mostly on concepts only pointed at by the film, not actually realized. Yes, the premise is great, but the impetus of the movie shifts and the acting is spotty at best. I don't mind having to figure things out as I go--that can be the appeal of a film--but the cast and crew seemed to also be developing their vision as they filmed. Most important is that the co-star's character is sorely underdeveloped given the crusader she emerges as in the end. They recall bits of the movie that were to have foreshadowed this, but the effect flops. Somewhat similarly, the main character's motive for using Z has to be stated explicitly at the end. While it makes total sense with the movie content, he's too much of a mystery otherwise to triangulate/confirm. What's less of an issue, but still sticks out is the poor acting of the inexplicable villain and the absurdly, grotesquely incompetent acting of the detective. It's probably not all the fault of the actor, though, as no one seemed to have a clue what was or was not supposed to be driving the film, which also contributed to the empty acting and tedium.

I thought it did some clever things with the time travel. I liked the idea that it was a drug that showed you glimpses into the future, but you're only seeing part of it as you're trying to figure out what is happening. The lead character is uncontrollably thrown into the future, and there's a mystery to solve rather then the keep going back until it's right trope.

But I think the story is really decent actually, it's a shame some of the acting isn't great. I've seen worse, but it's definitely below average. The cinematography is not bad, and I think they did well with the budget they had.

There's a fun little twist at the end too.