Time Out of Mind

In 2009, director Oren Moverman created one of the most relevant and moving post-9/11 war films of our generation with The Messenger. Blending subtle realities of the peculiarities of individual family traditions with the overly-patriotic mentality of American society, the film was a deliverance of cinematic importance and high entertainment. Five years later, and after his sophomore feature Rampart, Moverman returns to the screen with Time Out of Mind, a film that showcases another unglamourous reality of Western society; homelessness.

It is no surprise that Moverman is being recognized as one of America's foremost independent filmmakers in a short period of time. Paying great attention to visual style as well as sonic and narrative elements of his films, the director offers an observational cinematic piece that is both powerfully empathetic and transformative for the perception of an unwanted and disconcerting part of society.

Time Out of Mind is a fairly simple film, with an easy to follow premise. What draws the film to the territory of deep pain and sentiment is the process in which the film so obviously takes to deliver a multi-layered understanding of the most unnoticed population of society.

One of the first and more interesting details that draws our attention to the film is the choice to cast Richard Gere as George; a dishevelled and drunk homeless man. Barely walking the streets of New York City, drunk, humiliated and decrepit, Gere embodies to the best of his abilities the 'typical bum'. An American acting master and icon known for his more debonair roles, Gere covers himself in rags and abandons the riches to play George, a man who describes his existence as one, big life-long quarrel.

Down on his luck and left with nothing after the death of his wife, George, barely fighting off the frigid temperatures of the Big Apple after being kicked out of a dilapidated apartment, finds refuge in one of the few temporary housing projects found within the concrete jungle. More like a prison than a home, George finds minor solace once he befriends a seasoned homeless man Dixon (Ben Vereen) as well as various opportunities to re-connect with his daughter Maggie (Jena Malone).

Once the audience gets over the bizarre casting choice of Gere in the lead role, we are able to observe, as Moverman does, the bigger picture. Moverman, along with director of photographer Bobby Bukowski (who seemed to have more films at TIFF this year than the Weinstein brothers), achieve excellence in the visual style of filmmaking for Time Out of Mind. Adopting a distinct, original perspective by placing a very displaced and stagnant George (Gere) amongst the bustling and busy city of New York, along with its people, shining street lights and fast-paced tempo, George's isolation as well as self-deprecated demeanour is always seen and understood from a distance without ever really getting too close.

While the star and filmmaker professed that much of the filming took place on the New York City streets during the day, when Gere was in costume, no one seemed to recognize him nor cared to be very close to him. This initial, obvious reaction by people when they are seen coming into contact with homeless individuals, is embodied fully by Moverman and Bukowski, thanks to the use of shooting scenes on rooftops, through the reflections of puddles, liquor stores or ultra- zooming the lens from blocks away. In a way, the film is a highly researched yet fairly obvious mentality of people who go out of their way to notice and avoid the street walkers of big cities. Time Out of Mind, simply for being an innovative look at the life of shelter-dwellers, casts a very respectable spell on its audience.

Although the film may seem thirty minutes too long, Moverman delivers an intimate portrait that discovers uncharted territory in independent American cinema using A-List Hollywood talent. Gere, who is front-and-centre as George throughout the film, never taking a break away from the camera, really delivers on, what seemed to be his passion project. Sadly, Gere, who is still solid as George, never really allows us to believe in his strife. Operating at low gear, torquing and reeling in his audience with subtle charm and wit, Gere is constantly overshadowed, despite powerful scenes, including a delicate moment of realization.

Whether hovered over a piano as Dixon, looking at the black-and-white keys, Vereen outshines Gere as a talkative homeless veteran, delivering nuanced and emotionally responsive scenes naturally and effortlessly. Yet, the real star of the film, given her limited screen-time, is Malone, a Moverman staple, who steals scenes with Gere in a laundromat, on the streets, or in the final scenes of a bar. Malone's facial expressions alone captivate, and comment greatly on a usually undocumented time when children, who are equally struggling in life professionally, emotionally and mentally, have to be the ones to support their parents, and not the other way around. Malone is nothing short of an acting revelation.

Time Out of Mind is the quintessential definition of Moverman's experimental apathetic filmmaking technique. George is living in a world that is constantly moving and happening around him. Life is literally passing him by. It is in his stillness, Moverman's confident casting decision and powerful commentary that the film allows us to forget it's flaws of pace and time.

This is exactly what I might feel like if I were homeless or just aimless, which I've been at times. The boredom and daily routines stripped down to basic necessities seemed very realistic. It stood out as the only "bum film" I've seen that didn't seem cliché-ridden.

Those who need constant hooks to stay entertained probably won't get it, but it does have its share of tense moments. There's also the mystery of how he reached that state, including an apparent scar that I originally thought belonged to Gere but may have been created for the film. Those who stick with it for awhile may get mesmerized by the slow, detailed story.

The film was apparently not widely publicized, hence the small number of reviews at the moment. A reviewer who glibly gave it one star skewed the overall rating here (come on, people). I highly recommend it for viewers with intellect, though it's about a guy who's lost some of his.

It's a simple and at the same time complicated film. Complicated to decipher the message that wants to convey through the language of the shots. Simple for the description and development of the character George who tries to restore a natural relationship with his daughter who has not seen for years and to describe his being and his consequent precarious and disadvantaged social condition. A completely atypical and passive acting as well as being completely categorical and absolutely empathic. The film certainly could be boring because the average viewer is used to a faster pace and a more active and active atmosphere, but the message he wants to bring is completely unique and different from the usual, which justifies him absolutely and certainly that it is not a film recommended to everyone.

"Cause...normally, it's...you know, the parents takes care of the kid. Not really the other way around."

After watching "Time out of mind" I felt pity and at the same time a kind of relief coming over me. I pitied George who tries to escape the cold daily by hiding in the waiting room of a hospital or just riding the subway through New York. Pity because he always has to find himself a new coat to withstand the freezing cold because he traded his last one in a pawnshop for a bit of cash again. Pity because usually this money is needed to buy some cheap alcohol. Pity because it's difficult for homeless people to pick up the thread again or to be in order with the bureaucratic whirligig. And in addition, I felt this relief because I'm not living in such a hopeless situation and I don't need to struggle for survival all the time. Relieved because I do possess what these homeless people are missing.

My greatest admiration goes out to Richard Gere who succeeded seemingly effortlessly in changing into a person who's standing on the precipice of society. Despite George's unshaven and scruffy appearance, you still can catch a glimpse of Gere's good looks and seductive gaze at times. Even the social assistant who interviews him notices that. But Gere wasn't the most obvious choice in my opinion. It's the most contrarian part he could play, compared to his previous acting. George is the opposite of the characters he played in "American Gigolo" and "Pretty Woman". As Gere himself in real life, these characters are wealthy and without deficiencies. And still Gere manages to come across as the poor man who can't find a way out of the vicious circle he finds himself in. In other words, I'm starting to like the actor Gere more and more. Maybe it has to do with his age. Just like in "The Benefactor" it's not an obvious role or something to get credits for in an easy way. The only weak point in "The Benefactor" was the story on its own. Gere's acting on the other hand was sublime and admirable.

The story may seem rather long-winded, with a lot of boring intervals. However, it felt like the image sought to include George's everyday life. A useless existence with many moments where he's observing things expressionless, dozing off once and a while and patiently waiting until he can return to the safe city center for the homeless. Not that George stays there with conviction and pleasure. In his eyes, this is probably the low point in his sad life and he tried to avoid it as long as possible. The New York city life serves as a soundtrack. Bits of music you can hear from a random bar, followed by a random conversation held by a stranger on the phone or the loud music from a passing car. And this interspersed with images taken from afar out of different angles where we see George as a key figure in the center of this cacophony. A symbolic image that shows how insignificant he is as a person in this metropolis.

You can hardly call this movie a real crowd puller. And many who saw it, will probably claim that it's slow and monotonous. And although that was also my first impression, the film gradually fascinated me more and more. It's been a long time since I enjoyed an interaction between two totally different people like the one here with George and Dixon (Ben Vereen), an ancien among the homeless whose blabbering starts to annoy George from the beginning. Everyone will recognize Ben Vereen from a TV movie, but he was really unrecognizable in this movie. Although the attempt to pick up the thread again when it concerns his daughter Maggie (Jena Malone), this part of the story seems to become less important in relation to the larger whole. The way the movie ends seems simplistic and minimalistic. And yet the end fits perfectly with the rest of the film. "Time out of mind" at least impressed me.

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George (Richard Gere) is homeless in New York. He gets kicked out of Sheila's apartment by Art (Steve Buscemi) and his workers. He is sleeping on the streets, and hanging out at the hospital as he tries to navigate the system. He stays at a shelter. On the streets, he's accosted by Dixon (Ben Vereen) who befriends him. He is estranged from his daughter Maggie (Jena Malone).

It's a mostly reserved performance. Gere basically disappears into this role. In some scenes, he fades into the background. It's a really compelling idea of the modern untouchables. There isn't much of a dramatic story as he drifts from one scene to the next. There are some memorable moments like the crazy guy in the next bunk in the shelter. The movie is unnecessarily long. One could get the same points in something with thirty minutes less.