OldFlattop

I have watched this movie at least four times, and every time I catch something I didn't see before. There's always a nice surprise waiting.

Time travel (or time displacement, such as "Demolition Man") is one of my favorite genres, whether it's drama or comedy. But, despite watching every time travel flick I come across, I can think of nothing to compare this with. It isn't "Back to the Future," but it doesn't try to be. Great sight gags, sly references, slapstick, puns ... this movie isn't afraid to try anything. And it succeeds when maybe it probably shouldn't. Yes, there's some "BTTF" here, but there's also some "Airplane!" and hints of Mel Brooks.

I went into my first viewing not knowing anything about it, and for two seconds I thought it was, truly, a resurfaced lost movie. Alas, Neil de Grasse Tyson giving an introduction with a tub of popcorn the size of washing machine pretty much dispelled any idea that something old had been unearthed. But 10 minutes in, I didn't care one bit. The quick word punches, vibrant background gags, and a sincere commitment to the premise made this enormously enthralling. And - dare I say it? - Betty Gilpin struck me as someone who is going to make a strong and serious dramatic turn one day.

There's really no way this movie should have worked, and it amazes me that it did. It's B-movie escapism with a complete lack of self-importance while maintaining respect for the audience. In other words, "let's just have some fun." If there's a message here, it got lost on me. And I don't have a problem with that.

This thing had the serious look and feel of one of the old "Faces of Death" videos, and that took its integrity away right from the start. Unfortunately, "Faces of Death" had a much higher reality factor than this "documentary." Discard any notion that the alleged Harrison tapes have any reasonable provenance. 1) The voice is obviously not Harrison's. 2) The story told is far too detailed. If Harrison was attempting to lay out the conspiracy, it is doubtful he would explain what everyone already knew. More likely, he would say, "Remember all those clues about Paul? Well, they were all intentional and here's why." 3) The quality of the tapes is far too good to have been recorded on a micro-cassette recorder. 4) Harrison would have certainly remembered that he worked on "Rubber Soul" before the alleged McCartney death.

The intention is clearly to use a fictional framework to propound a theory of government involvement with the Paul McCartney death hoax. A better way to go about it would have been the time-honored documentary tradition of actually talking to people. Certainly, you could drum up at least a handful of interviewable people who would relish the notion of damning Her Majesty's government. Even supermarket tabloids can get independent verification of obvious lies.

So, as a documentary, this one fails. As an informative piece about the McCartney death rumors, it provides no information that has not been seen or heard elsewhere. I saw nothing here that was new to me, but, then again, I've followed this rumor since 1970.

If you are new to the McCartney rumors, this would be a good place for basic information. Books on the subject are plentiful, and the Internet (really) is a good source of information.

In a way, it's a shame to treat this subject in such a slipshod fashion. The McCartney death hoax is a powerful sociological issue. Personally, I believe that the Beatles set out to create the rumor, and toyed with us for several years with clues. I do not buy the MI5 angle whatsoever. I do, however, subscribe to the theory that the co-opting of the Beatles' lyrics by Charles Manson had a chilling effect on what might have been the eventual revelation of the hoax as real and not necessarily ill-intentioned.