The First Three Lives of Stuart Hornsley

I've been a fan of Tunde Adebimpe ever since I saw the delightful short film "Jorge" (1998) on IFC several years ago. He is able to convey a shy, adorable nerdiness like few others. I wish Hollywood would catch on to this underutilized actor! He was in "Rachel Getting Married," which I enjoyed, but only had a few lines.

This film is about a man obsessed with trying to invent a time-travel machine to go to back to the past so he can change the present. About how a seemingly innocuous decision can affect our whole lives. It is available on a DVD called "The Film Movement Series," a collection of award-winning indie short films that is available at Netflix and which I was able to find at my local library.

A while back, I watched a strange but fascinating independent film called JUMP TOMORROW. What I liked most about this film was the strange character played so well by Tunde Adebimpe. His delivery and manner were so nerdy but sweet that you couldn't help but like him---even though he was a total dork. So when I found that THE FIRST THREE LIVES OF STUART HORNSLEY was included on a disk of short films from The Film Movement Series, I was excited.

Now as far as the film goes, it's not an easy one to get into. The first half or so is very slow and difficult like--even though, once again, I liked Tunde Adebimpe in the lead role. Still, despite the slowness of the film, stick with it--the payoff is there and it's worth seeing.

Not the movie, it's actually pretty good and well worth the 28 minutes of your life it will use up. It's Stuart's time machine that is, in what *must* be irony, a waste of time.

When the film starts Stuart Hornsley (Tunde Adebimpe) seems to be a graduate student in physics, working on a time machine. Because he's close to a breakthrough he passes up a once in a lifetime moment, and when next we see him it's seven years later and he's living what he no longer considers to be "his real life" all because of that one moment. He works his way through several lives in order to get the one he wants.

It seems like the writers were working with some strange physics of their own. Essentially Stuart makes a wrong turn, but instead of going back he keeps driving, and yet he gets to the right destination by a different route. I've learned my lesson, I'm never stopping to ask for directions again.