Given the go-ahead to investigate whether there is a story in this, Jeff and two of the magazine's interns shoot up North to
stake out the post office box in Ocean View that was listed in the ad, and once there they
eventually spot Kenneth. They follow him and discover that he’s a reclusive and
rather paranoid grocery store Clerk who claims that his time machine has
already transported him on a jaunt to the recent past.
Jeff fails to get any further information out of the
rather looney Kenneth, so he orders Darius his cynical and somewhat odd Intern
to win over his confidence so that they can get the full scoop. Darius ends up falling for both Kenneth and
his hare-brained scheme which once she discovers that they are both actually being followed
by FBI looking Agents, believes could actually be a reality after all.
There is a sub-plot to this wee story with Jeff trying
to re-unite with his old college sweatheart (which was in fact the real reason he
took the story on so that he could come back to his old stomping ground) and also to get
his other young intern to loosen up and lose his virginity.
So I must fess up that I am big Duplass Brothers fan
ever since I caught sight of their delicious quirky ‘Baghead’ which
kick-started the whole *Mumblecore movement in 2008. Always pushing the envelope that wee bit further
in all of their cinematic efforts, it is inevitable that some of their results up
on the silver screen don’t completely hit the mark. And this is one such time.
In fairness the Brothers only executive produced this
one, and Mark Duplass played one of the leads but their handwriting is all over
this first feature movie directed by Colin Trevorrow and written by newbie
Derek Connolly. There was nothing to
dislike about this wry amusing comedy, but unlike the Time Machine itself, it never
really took off as it had promised too.
*Mumblecore is a term used to describe a number of American independent films produced in the early 2000's characterized by low budget production values and amateur actors. The term does not describe a conscious movement so much as a loose band of film makers who produce very low-budget films heavily focused on naturalistic dialog.
★★★★★★
