Random Quest

"Random Quest," based on a John ("Day of the Triffids") Wyndham science fiction parallel universes yarn, shows the BBC at its not-quite top- drawer. Here a so-so love story is made to trump an ingenious fictional study of Einsteinian paradoxes. One of the problems is the actor Sam West. His sluggish portrayal of the chief character is a nice demonstration of human entropy. He starts off so boring as to nearly vanish from the scene and winds up as one of those British vacuum cleaners marketed in infomercials, sucking most of the air and substance out of this romantic science fiction drama and turning it into a two-dimensional "Flatland." The rest of the cast performs adequately, but nobody seems to have really tried to make a difference. There is an attempt at an interesting walk-and-talk discussion of quantum mechanics, but that stops in mid-track. Much of the action takes place in a very modern home that sports a long and narrow basement swimming pool and a cramped closet-like bedroom. At first apparently quite striking, the home reveals itself to be an awkward space more like a very contemporary shop window than a house. If you're interested in how a talented cast and director can breathe life into a story about alternate realities, you only have to watch an episode of "Fringe." Otherwise, there's no parallel.

This might be great, but Amazon have uploaded it in the wrong aspect ratio so it's pretty much unwatchable.

Colin gets pulled to a parallel universe due to a particle accelerator accident. He then falls in love with the woman, Ottillee, that his parallel self is married to.

The pace of the story can be agonizingly slow as typified in one scene which has a long boring sequence watching him shave and dress. A similar paced scene is watching him explore his parallel house.

The romantic part is not so much slow as having too little. We do see several scenes with Ottillee partially dressed in underwear or nightclothes that take up a lot of the screen time that could have been better spent building the romance. It is not even clear why Colin chose to exert himself to repair the marriage that his parallel self has damaged due to negligence and infidelity.

The movie is also cluttered with an excess of scientific so-called theory. There is enough real science to obscure where the theory becomes pure speculation. The movie would have had better pace with less of it.

There is nothing extraordinary about the story, but it is good enough to at least partially make up for the slow development. Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for a love story especially if you throw in some sci-fi.

28 February 2013. Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969) offered a similar but more mystery thriller suspense bent to Random Quest and its more extended psychological experiential focus. In some ways Random Quest takes the "if what" genre, like It's A Wonderful Life (1946) but instead of an Angel there is a black hole, alternative universe explanation. What brings this movie to life is a brilliant architecture display and ethereal musical score, along with some fascinating hypothetical alternative contemporary historical propositions that are on display in this movie.

The continuity, editing, shortness of the movie created some disjointed and abrupt character changes in the movie, especially during the earlier sequences. The very opening sequence seems a little out of the blue and confusing. Nevertheless, this parallel universe had more depth than say The Thirteenth Floor (1999) which again focused more an the thriller aspect than the qualitative relational theme of Random Quest.

This is a BBC production, so the technical aspects are as good as ever from the BBC, with good acting, sound, editing, lighting, etc. Sadly, the script lets the whole thing down, followed by direction that seems to insist on providing a glacial pace.

Alternate reality Science Fiction where a research scientist is mysteriously shifted from one universe into another parallel universe where much of his life has changed. Instead of exploring the scientific aspects of the swap, and comparing the differences between the universes, most of the film is taken up with creating/rekindling a relationship between the man and his wife in the alternate reality. It's sort of a Time Travellers Wife situation, or an amnesiac trying to reintegrate himself into his life.

And all of this happens at glacial speed.

So, drop the science fiction aspect, give the man amnesia and the story works just as well, and just as boringly. This film isn't about exploring the possibility of alternate realities, it's a film about ruined relationships and trying to piece them back together again.

If I wanted to sum this film up I'd say - Not As Advertised.

If you want a slightly surreal amnesiac romance story watch this film. If you want some decent science fiction, try watching The Terminator again.