Le Chemin du passé

I'LL FOLLOW YOU DOWN (aka: CONTINUUM) is a well-made science fiction film about dire loss and the desire to go back and "fix" things.

When a brilliant physicist (Rufus Sewell) vanishes without a trace, it devastates his wife, Marika (Gillian Anderson) and son, Erol (Haley Joel Osment).

Years later, Marika is still haunted by the disappearance, nearly unable to function. Errol, while going through similar agony, discovers that his grandfather has been working on something that just may be the key to the entire mystery.

This film has drama, tension, and an emotional quagmire, along with its sci-fi elements.

Right up front, it's important to know that Ms. Anderson plays a supporting role, and isn't in the movie very much. Sewell is only in it for about 5 minutes.

This is Osment's movie, and he's quite good, making one wonder where he went after THE SIXTH SENSE! Here, he's the central character in a tale of love, hope, and human ingenuity.

Very much worth seeing...

Gabriel (Rufus Sewell) disappears during a business trip. His wife Marika (Gillian Anderson) is left to raise their son Erol. Twelve years later, Erol (Haley Joel Osment) is a student of his grandfather Sal (Victor Garber). He tells him about his father possibly traveled back in time to 1946. Erol starts working on their own time machine while his girlfriend Grace informs him about her pregnancy. She fears his interference changing their relationship.

This does not have enough tension. It has no intensity. Haley Joel Osment is limited as the leading man. The lead in the first act is actually Gillian Anderson. This is basically a long extended sci-fi TV. In fact, I would cut it down to 46 minutes and make a pretty good hour long TV episode. This doesn't have the flash of even the smallest sci-fi indies. The premise is fine but there isn't enough to bulk it up.

It's movies like this one that make me glad I've watched them for the first time in my home rather than a theatre, where I have the ability to instantly rewatch parts. The majority of this film is a bit of a slow burn but fantastic casting makes it not drag. It's the final scene, the last sequence of events, that is truly memorable. Haley Joel Osment was fantastic in the climactic conclusion and Rufus Sewell is a personal favorite of mine and a world-class actor. Some bits of the plot earlier on were a bit shoe-horned in, but the payoff was well worth a little finagling. The one downside was how freaking hard it was to find on imdb. Searching "I'll Follow You Down" (the actual title displayed during the film) will not lead you here so congratulations on finding it.

Erol (Haley Joel Osment) and his grandfather (Victor Garber) work together using quantum physics to develop the ability to travel back in time, with the aim of repairing a family shattered by the disappearance 12 years earlier of Erol's father (Rufus Sewell).

This is a movie about relationships and the possible selfish impacts of time travel upon them. For example, if Erol travels back in time to prevent his father's disappearance, how can he guarantee his fiancée (Susanna Fournier) that they will still be together in the new version of the present day?

This is not an action movie. There are no special effects. It is essentially a mystery drama with time travel acting as the primary plot device.

I enjoyed the movie. Its definitely not perfect. A little slow in places.

I read several reviewers complain about the casting of Haley Joel Osment. I thought he was fine, though given his physical appearance it is hard to imagine him being the son of Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson and the grandson of Victor Garber. However, if you can suspend your disbelief and believe that a couple of men writing mathematical equations on a chalk board can make time travel possible, then anything is possible.

"I'll Follow You Down" is a decent movie that contains pleasant actors. I didn't have much of a high expectation for this movie, nor did I know what it was about when I first saw it, but found myself involved with the story line as well as its characters. It's an adequate drama/mystery/time travel movie that has an overall good story development and message.

The movie centers a lot around family, and a mystery that has to do with a boy's missing father. Although the movie caught my attention from the beginning, I did find the middle part of the story a bit slow, but it got more interesting as the movie progresses - and it carried all the way through the rest of the movie. I recommend watching this if you're into a bit of time traveling, mystery, and drama.