OXV: The Manual

Although from the synopsis I thought this was not the kind of film I can enjoy, I decided to watch it after reading the (at the moment only) review, by Christian. I must say, he was right. This film is great! It had my complete attention from beginning to end. It is funny, original, mysterious, intelligent, intriguing, sweet, sad, mental, philosophical, emotional, from time to time thrilling. There are names of fictional characters which recall names of famous geniuses, and sort of gags/tributes to them, which to be fully enjoyed require you to at least know, for example, who Isac Newton was and how important for him things like weight/gravity and apples were. And probably if you are a somehow philosophical/mental type you may enjoy some aspects of this film differently. But I am sure that whatever kind of person you are, this film will give you much. And you will not forget it.

If the apparently complicated conversations about philosophical themes sometime confuse you, do not try to follow them. They are there to make you smile, so smile of their complexity, and enjoy the whole of the film, the romance, the comedy, the drama, the mystery. This film is really different. Oh. It was a long time that I was not so deeply and lightly and fully and gently pleased by a movie. The actors are also very good.

Somehow this film reminds me of "Waking Life" and of "I Love Huckabees", for its mixture of mentality and emotionality and comedy.

I do not give it a 10 just because nobody is perfect :D And like Christian wrote: please watch it! Please for you, not for me. Because you will like it. So do not miss this opportunity!

This movie is pretty savvy to say the least. It's also one of those cases where it merits more than one viewing to fully understand and appreciate what is going on. While the front is a romantic comedy with a Science Fiction touch, the Sci-Fi part is actually a lot bigger than you may think at first. Or maybe you thought about it or read about it already, but whatever the case, experiencing this movie, is a blast to say the least.

We have more time-lines and more jumps than some people will be able to handle or even want to handle. There's a point where things can seem to be too much. And after a couple of twists you may find yourself going "come on". But if you are like me and those other people who loved this, you'll actually be craving for more ... which is something the director is hinting at towards the end ... visually but also in his commentary!

I was skeptical about the ratings on IMDb but I decided to see this because I was looking for something different. I love the way it was told in parts, and how they all fit together. The movie was very smart and the actors and actresses all did an amazing job.

It kind of reminds me of the SciFi show Eureka, but with a more darker twist; I liked it. They did a good job with the music and the way they used the sound effects. Very clever camera work when viewing the situation from a certain persons perspective, bland colors vs. good saturation.

The movie had a slow build but the wait and the wonder was completely worth it in the end and it kept me thoroughly intrigued throughout. Great flick, I recommend it.. just bring your thinking caps, this one is for talking about.

It has some interesting ideas, but their delivery lacks cohesion and step-by-step development, which in my view loses exactly the viewer it's meant to attract - the thinking, curious type. This is what we read in Wikipedia: "Zak discovers with Theo that sound waves, when combined with gibberish two-syllable words, are able to temporarily raise one's frequency. They create a cell phone device which, based on the environment, is able to determine which words can raise one's frequency." This is not what we see on the screen. We can just about figure out that the combination of sound waves and meaningless words can cause a fluctuation (we're still left to guess that the fluctuation means Zak's frequency is raised), but the creation of the cell phone device is left completely outside the narrative. We are expected to do the guess work every step of the way, but there's simply not enough material to arrive at determinant conclusions. And this is coming from a director who decided to resurrect the idea of scientific determinism, which had been buried at the turn of the 20th century. It totally makes sense that every human being should have a frequency, since every particle is also a wave (in itself not a deterministic concept), but the question what to make of it has not been answered with this effort.

Some movies require you to take the "reviewers rule book" and toss it.

This is one of them.

The writer/director Darren Paul Fisher appears to be one of those rare auteurs who releases a work every four or five years and then disappears or hibernates or goes back to his home planet.

This is an extraordinary film. Even now I not sure if this is a love story sugar-coated with one of the most complex metaphysical scripts of all time, or a metaphysical script grounded in a wonderfully odd love story.

However, as one of the main characters quips in the very last scene, "Does it even matter?"

The film is mesmerizing and engaging and challenging. It makes the MATRIX look like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. The scenes in the present with the adult cast are perfect and flawless, but the flashbacks with the child actors are beyond even that, they are hypnotic.

A great film by a gifted auteur. Memorable. Enjoyable. Astonishing.

Highly recommended