Timer

TiMER (2009)

A really fabulous, tightly written, tightly focused movie. It has a smart, sci-fi hook: people can wear a "timer" that predicts when they will meet their true love. This becomes the device around which the really charming, lovable characters play with the idea of true love, and love, and relationship, and the predictability (or not) of all of that. And it is done without a shred of darkness--I mean, it's an upbeat, rose-colored view of this oddly painted future. There's a hint of Juno in the tone, and maybe Sex and the City in the sorting out of relationships by the two main women.

The production, or feel, of things isn't as low budget as you might think given its low budget, but it is filmed with a modern television kind of flatness, or brightness. For all the Big Brother eeriness to it all, the world of these two half sisters and their prospective boyfriends is downright happy. Even the old folks home is a comic paradise, more or less.

What really makes the picture work are the two leading women, who play their upbeat diffidence and sarcasm with wide eyes and cute smiles. Their fast comebacks are razor sharp but never quite slashing. Equal to them but in a smaller role is their chipper mother, a paradigm of American good will wearing blinders. And the one boyfriend, the cute (of course) guy who plays in a band, happily immature, is also spot on. So, with a cast like this of complete unknowns playing their hearts out with delicacy and fearlessness, following a quirky and impossible futuristic notion, you can't help but kick back and laugh.

The Timer is a small device which told the person who had it attached exactly when he or she will meet their soul mates. Oona, a woman whose mother was desperately relying on the thing, has her timer completely blank since she got it so she spends a lot of time trying to figure out the problem. Meanwhile, fortunately for her, she meets a charming boy, younger than her, which will play an important role in the nearby future.

It's an enjoyable comedy which bases on a pretty interesting concept (the Timer) and presents a bunch of people whose lives are deeply affected by this expensive gizmo. As much as I liked the movie (most of it) I have to say that the finale is simply catastrophic. They ruined it as badly as they could, from a tangled but pretty love story to an unnecessary Timer intervention which makes everything fall apart. Pity, as it could have been a much better movie if it wasn't for that stupid ending

I picked this film on Netflix not knowing what it was about. Then I got introduced from the opening scenes to a very interesting concept and was drawn in by an original idea. I don't know if this was done in any other film, but it is the first time that I have seen it in a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The original concept was refreshing and the main character was a lovable girl who was looking for love like many of us. (By the way, for those who didn't remember, she was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, played Xander's fiancée). Her situation (minus the obvious thing that we don't have access to, at least right now) is quite believable as I know many people in her predicament, searching for someone to love and to spend the rest of their lives with. It is a romantic, dramatic and funny movie that sits well with me and is quite enjoyable to watch.

In a near future, many people wear a timer implanted in their wrists by matchmakers to find their soul mates and true love. The twenty-nine year-old orthodontist Oona O'Leary (Emma Caulfield) is worried about her future since she cannot find her true love. When she meets the twenty- two year old supermarket cashier and musician Mikey Evers (John Patrick Amedori), his timer shows that they will be together in four months and she falls for him.

Oona lives with her stepsister and best friend Steph Depaul (Michelle Borth) that works as receptionist in a nursing home. When Steph meets the widow Dan (Desmond Harrington) that does not wear a timer, they start seeing each other. Meanwhile Oona finds that Mikey's timer is fake and she is affected by her discovery. The birthday of Oona and Steph is on the same day and their mother Marion Depaul (JoBeth Williams) invites Mikey and Dan to the party. On the eve, Oona and Steph decide to remove the timer, but when Oona is ready to take it of, the timer is activated by someone who has just implanted it. Who could be her soul mate?

"TiMER" is a charming romantic comedy with a different but silly concept, but also flawed with an awful conclusion. The idea would be acceptable in a future or a near future, but even Oona's father had implanted a timer when she was born meaning thirty years ago. The perfect message would be with Oona daring to love Mikey free of her mother's oppression for using the timer and Steph and Dan together. Further, there are several questions raised along the story without answer. For example, has Oone reconciled with her father? Did he like Mikey's CD? What has happened to Steph and how would be her relationship with Oona if she stays with Dan? My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Timer – Contagem Regressiva para o Amor" ("Timer- Countdown to Love)

Finally our clocks have counted down and we have Jac Schaeffer in our lives. Schaeffer has brilliantly written "TiMER" and brought a fantastic romantic comedy into the world.

Sure, all romantic comedies follow the same trend, cute girl wants to meet her soul mate. The poor ones do it with horrible main characters and ridiculously unfunny contrived situations. The somewhat better ones, which we have been forced to accept as good, add comedy and likable characters. But now, we have "TiMER".

This film gives us a couple of characters, all of them are very funny and relatable. And it also adds ingenuity, with an original technological timer to count down to the arrival of our soul mate, and intelligence and even mixes in philosophy. "TiMER" can be enjoyed by everyone, the humour is sweet and appropriate for every age, and for every "thinker" out there, there's a lot for you to over-analyze, and for everyone who doesn't want to think there's enough to enjoy on its surface.

I have said a lot of good things about "TiMER" here and deservedly so because this is a well written romantic comedy (apparently they really do exist!). This film won't climb the ranks into my all time favourite movies because it doesn't evoke too many emotions, but it definitely deserves to be seen and talked about.