Time Freak

This is a fun lighthearted movie that reminds me of Being Erica or TNG episode called Tapestry - where you can go back in time and change past mistakes to produce an ideal outcome. As you can guess, the lesson learned is that manipulating the past does not lead to the perfect outcome. Good idea although nothing new.

What I like about the movie? Skyler Gisondo as the friend Evan IS the heart and humor of the movie. I would watch it again just for his comedic performance that kept me in stitches. I looked forward to each and every scene he was in and he did not disappoint.

What could have been better? I didn't feel the chemistry between the two main leads. I believe that part of the problem lies with how Stillman was written and partially the casting choice.

While Sophie Turner was okay as Debbie, I feel that Zooey Deschanel would have been a better choice. If I closed my eyes and just listened to the voices, it almost sounded like that's what Sophie was going for.

Asa Butterfield as Stillman came off as a bit conceited and whiny. It was hard to feel sympathy for him at any point. The scriptwriter could've made him more likeable and a different casting choice would've helped also. Maybe someone like Adrian Grenier in She Drives Me Crazy (1999)? Someone that you feel sorry for would've helped.

If the script was tweaked a little and different people cast in the leading roles, this would've easily been an 8. They didn't do anything wrong and there were genuinely funny moments, but it lacked that certain spark that could've really made it great.

Reading the concept I was struck by two things. First the philisophical and moral implications of what our antagonist does and secondly just how incredibly creepy the whole thing is.

Quickly the movie further descends into creepiness but it really does make you think.

What I liked about Time Freak is that it doesn't gloss over how questionable the whole thing is, it embraces it and the last third of the movie heavily puts a spotlight on it.

It tells the story of a young man who builds a time machine after his girlfriend leaves him to go back and fix things. You see what I mean about morals vs creepiness?

Starring Sophie "Sansa" Turner it plays out like a generic Hollywood romantic comedy but with this twist. By the end it's fairly hard hitting, thought provoking and certainly got my heart aflutter (But if anyone asks I will so totally deny it)

The awfully titled Time Freak is funny, heartfelt and is one of those film concepts I'll be thinking about for a longtime to come.

Despite the questionable ethics it's a really fun little movie.

The Good:

Sophie Turner

Very original concept

Well woven little tale

The Bad:

The concept is creepier the more you think about it

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Sophie Turner cannot sing

Donkey punch has been demoted to donkey slap

Jason Hervey has been reborn as Skyler Gisondo

I'm a sucker for time travel movies and trying to fix what went wrong. Add a romance to that and I'm often a bigger sucker.

This movie is okay. It's sweet and silly and sometimes a bit ludicrous, but above-average fun.

I think that the biggest surprise and the movie's saving grace is Skyler Gisondo as Evan. I've never seen him before, but his work here is remarkable. He takes what could have been a thankless, ridiculous second banana role and arguably makes the whole film so much more than it would be without him.

If you watch this movie just to see what Skyler does with his part, and think about - and this is apropos for a time travel movie - the acting choices he could have made, or what another lesser actor might have done with the role, you won't be sorry.

The main reason to watch this movie are the actors, they are cute kids in what amounts to a rom-com but with a semi-serious message at the end. Curiously the two leads are both British but their American accents are so good you'd never know if you didn't know.

They are in college in Denver and boy meets girl, they get along, but after some time the girl says it won't work. The boy, a Physics prodigy of sorts, decides it is his fault, so he invents a way to travel back and forth in time, figuring he can go back and correct the problems and keep the girl.

It is an entertaining movie for the most part, although it gets a bit muddled in the second half. Then too much back-N-forth time travel starts to have undesired effects. Ultimately the message they deliver is not to mess with life too much, work with what you have.

I watched it on Amazon streaming movies.

Some scenes were expected but I still enjoyed the movie. Sophie's American accent is also getting better. I enjoyed listening to her pronunciations. Lol. Asa has always been a good actor and Skyler's humor added a spice in the movie.