Dimensions

I'm usually a sucker for science fiction, and time travel in particular, but this movie was underwhelming. The characters are severely under-developed and uninteresting. One of the main characters is so empty that at one point the protagonist suggests that she might not be real, and she has no response.

The time-travel elements of the movie are similarly devoid of interest, and the supposed plot is elementary. I think most of the effort on this movie went into period sets, costumes and haircuts. It certainly doesn't show up in the writing, acting, or directing.

The strong points of the film: Excellent production design, excellent costumes, excellent acting and excellent music. All combine to an esthetic whole which is much better than the sum of its parts.

The storyline is similar to one of the HG Wells novels, especially the Time Machine. But in this particular instance, the Time Machine is only able to bring someone a few years into the past. It is a limitation which encapsulates the entire plot, as there are several limitations put upon the film because of its low budget. Set in a Great Gatsby-like setting in the early 1920's, the film could easily have been one of HG's lesser-known stories.

Fortunately for this reviewer, the Director is savvy enough to understand her limitations, and to keep the film utterly under control for the entire length of time it takes to unravel the mystery that is set up in the opening scene, when an old man arrives in the middle of a garden party and begins the education of the guests in the physics of the 4th Dimension.

As the plot progresses, a young genius named Steven is beside himself with a mission to right a wrong that happened in his childhood, and is obsessed with finding a method to return to the past to do so. We suspend our disbelief at his feeble but well-intentioned attempts, and when one of the experiments backfires, we wonder if Steven will give in to his demons and descend into madness. It almost happens--if it were not for "the love of a good woman".

So that there are no spoilers in this review, I will summarize by saying that there is a final resolution which neither disappoints nor does it fail to engage our deeper intellect. Since I encourage anyone tired of the mall-screen movies of the 2000's, (with their overblown heroes and ridiculously unrealistic plots and absurd bombastic gun combat and fight scenes), to take a breath and let themselves be drawn into a meditative state as they sail down a lazy river and be contented with the calm, thoughtful work of art that was so effectively made into this film.

I came upon this film by accident. I thought I'd chosen something else on Amazon Prime, but I must have clicked this movie by mistake. The music reeled me in first. Then the time frame reeled me in; I love re-creations of the 1920's. After that, the subject matter piqued my interest. For once there was a screenplay that was cleverly written, without robots, blood, gore and violence.(Well, there was a touch.)

The music had a haunting quality that I loved. It was a smattering of classical pieces, especially by Fredrick Chopin, done in modern fashion, interspersed with the Gramophone effect. I then was wondering how they'd pull off the time travel, and that's where it gets interesting: The mechanism consisted of some steam-punk props, electrical gadgets and an old upright piano. The story line was more or less a romantic novel, but it didn't go too overboard. It's a picture that was a bit difficult to understand, yet very clever. Coming from a family whose father figure was an engineer, it made me think, and I'm still thinking about it. No special effects were necessary. I added my own imagination to it, and there you have it, a very entertaining movie-but you had to work your brain for it!

Very refreshing indeed!

Displayed as Dimensions (2014) Really Dimensions (2011) AKA Dimensions: A-Line, a Loop, a Tangle of Threads

Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Born: August 1985 in London, England, UK

I accidentally stumbled onto this critter. It is one of the most fun-sounding least plausible stories.

Cambridge, England, 1921 Three young friends frolic around the countryside. Even at this early age attachments and rivalries are created. Whoops, someone threw a jump rope into the well which sets off a series of events in these lives and friendships.

Years later Stephen and Conrad each blame themselves for not retrieving the jump rope which inadvertently causes the demise of their friend Jane.

Stephen, the son of the scientist, is inspired to create a Time Machine and as his main target intends to correct the past.

Will he succeed?

Or will he mess up time for the rest of us?

Or is this whole Time Machine a concept of his mind?

This is one of those movies that you cannot fast-forward through as the description of how time works, which is displayed in the introductory credits, and elaborated throughout the story is that time is a series of dimensions running parallel with every decision. Or at least he is 99% sure. Therefore, if one goes back into time and changes it, they create a new timestream and not change the stream that they were in originally.

Following the timeline or parallel universe theory will help make the story and even the ending quite clear. There are no loose ends. The original appearance of the professor (Patrick Godfrey) and the subsequent appearance of the professor even though similar are two different timelines.

Do not waste your time with plausibility. Do spend your time with the intertwining love stories and relationships. Why was he compelled to leave the one he now loves Annie (Olivia Llewellyn) to travel back and make a correction that he cannot be a part of?

It's a Time Travel Story. And it's listed as Science Fiction, thereby.

But Be Advised: It's NOT 'The Time Machine'. Nor is it your standard Hollywood Special Effects wagon-train.

No Splashy special Effects. No Journeys to the end of Time. No Monsters. No Weird Paradoxes. No Dinosaurs either.

It DOES has an element of Time Travel...but that's all. The rest of the Movie is a distillation of a very nice work of emotional Fiction. It's a Love story about Three Childhood friends in 1920's era England. Once you settle into the measured, dialogue driven pace of the story. I found it elegant, touching and memorable.

Totally Girlfriend Friendly, BTW.