The Infinite Man

A very funny independent film with an excellent performance by Josh McConville leading a sparse cast of three in his pursuit of love. The story centres on the futility of pursuing perfection and the folly of fabricating happiness, with a slight, masterful and touching subtext of the trials of escaping mental illness's obsessions. This clever and tightly written sleeper gem demands, with a bit of mental gymnastics, the attention of any lazy viewers to be fully satisfying.

An ambitious little Australian film that seemingly came to existence from much persistence from its creator Hugh Sullivan and star Josh McConville, The Infinite Man is a film the overcomes it's obvious budget limitations to become an interesting/unique love story that while always watchable is sadly forgettable and in the end acts as a product that you can see will be inspiration for a Hollywood remake, such is the potential here.

A hybrid of both the romantic comedy genre and the DIY time travel projects like Primer etc. The Infinite Man never really bothers to explain its science as it's more concerned with getting you engaged in the harsh realities of McConville's Dean's deep seeded and undying love for his girlfriend and sometimes ex-girlfriend Lana as played by Marshall. Dean is an OCD suffering socially inept man who struggles to maintain his sanity when the going gets tough while Lana is a woman who knows what she wants yet is unsure if she can get that from Dean. It's an interestingly played out romantic tale between the two as Dean try's to accustom himself to a life without Lana and then as the time traveling kicks in try's to realise what Lana needs from him, whatever being of himself is currently courting her. It's an intriguing prospect and a not always believable one, the more you think the more the story falls apart but these are usual staples of the time travel genre that aren't enough to completely derail what elements the film does right.

The film features a witty and often inventive script and while McConville and Marshall perform amiable the star of this show is Australian acting staple Alex Dimitriades as Lana's ex Terry. Terry is a self-obsessed disgraced Olympian that carries his old javelin in the boot of his car (the javelin is the star of one of the films funniest scenes) and his appearance on screen is always a welcome addition to a film that benefits from his industry experience. The appearance of Dimitriades is what highlights the Infinite Man's largest weaknesses, McConville and Marshall while good just don't possess enough natural charm to really wow us into caring, if we to feel in love with these humans then The Infinite Man could of literally become anything including a sci-fi comedy classic.

There is a lot of fine meditation on life, love and friendship on display in The Infinite Man and there can be little doubting of the care taken to get this story made for the big screen and full credit for all involved for this. The film can become a frustrating experience as you feel many a time that it's about to break the shackles and become something truly memorable but as the initially wonderful then sadly generically ended finale fades from view, you realise that greatness was close yet so very far away. Bring on the hopefully impending and improved remake I say.

2 and a half javelins out of 5

You don't need top end Hollywood actors to make a great movie. This was very cleverly written and well acted.

This is a primer copycat, its very well executed and has the benefit of being amusing.

Acting is on point, especially the villainous Terry, but you have to wait the second half to understand what you thought were gaping plot holes. This is very different from other low fi sci-fi flicks pride themselves on following their own rules from the beginning end (primer, timeliness, triangle, etc).

The two lead characters are also fairly unlikeable at first, especially the female lead who seem to have even less self respect than the male one. This sort itself out mid flick, but don't expect the level of insane detail found in say, villeneuves' 'enemy'.

My biggest and only gripe are the inconsistencies in object purposes, as for example the rmemory Helmet becomes a time machine of sorts 10 minutes

I'm surprised this is not more popular.