Made on a minuscule budget of $7,000, this low budget American independent science fiction movie about two engineers, Aaron (Shane Carruth) & Abe (David Sullivan) accidentally creating a device that allows time travel, that soon become troublesome to them is quite possibly one of the most complex time travel film ever made. Between the multiple paradoxes time travels with many clone individuals, the nonlinear plot, philosophical implications, and the ocean of techno babble that the main characters spout at each other constantly, while also dishonestly lying; this movie indeed, is one very puzzling motion picture. While, some people might not films like this, that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge, others find "Primer' as a wonderful stimulate to the ravenous mind. It's only, near the climax, where the movie starts to fall apart & get really frustrating. For the most part, the film concept is clearly thought provoking enough for people to invest time in it. After all, it inspire people to sit down and create a diagram flowchart after watching this movie! I'm not kidding, diehard fans, honestly, made graphs & charts on the internet in order to explain to the casual viewer, what was happening on screen. This movie has that deep of a fandom. Thank goodness for them, because even I, with some knowledge of the Feynman & Meissner effect, couldn't figure, what everything was going on, during this film, during first viewing. Trust me, when I say this, you wouldn't get much information from the filmmakers. Even the commentary track from director, producer, editor & writer, Steve Carruth that come with the movie, couldn't help you get more information about the story elements. Why, because Carruth does not believe, in dumbing down the piece, the piece, in order to make it easier to decipher. Instead, he trust the audience into finding the answers; for themselves; through multiply viewings. I don't blame him, that's a brilliant strategy, to get viewers to keep renting or buying into his movie, even after many years since the theatrical release date. He probably made mad money off, the cult-following trying to understand the film. This movie took a huge risk of not pleasuring the general movie goer audience at all. While other movies that have time travel try to keep it simpleton layman terms to entertain casual viewers, 'Primer' goes the other direction, showing that time shouldn't be mess with. The way, Carruth chose to deliberately obfuscate the film's plot to mirror the complexity and confusion created by time travel was somewhat brilliant. While, I can understand, his stands of not exposing too much. I still believe the movie should had given a little more subtle clues to explain, what's happening at a given moment like the degeneration & personality swaps scenes. Because, as of right now, the film does seem a bit uncoherent. Despite that, I have to give the movie, some credit for its showing, not telling approach to the time travel parts of the film. However, I didn't believe the same approach to the central theme of the breakdown of Abe and Aaron's relationship, as a result of their inability to cope with the power afforded them by this technological advancement, work as well. I don't think, the main performers have the acting skills to portray the need human emotions that a piece like this, really needed. It didn't help, the movie didn't give the performers, much a persona for them to work with. Instead, both men seem like boring lackluster robots. While, it's true that juicy sub stories involving their friends, Robert (Casey Gooden) & Phillip (Anand Upadhyaya) involving an unseen antagonist, Platz, might add some spice to the story, as their characters might want to steal the invention in the beginning, the supporting characters were quickly abandoned and sweep under the rug for the rest of the film. They really don't play much of a factor, in the second half; much of the same, can be said, with the Aaron's family, wife, Kara (Carrie Crawford) & daughter, Laney (Delaney Price) who rarely shown, any worries about Aaron's negative aggressive change in behavior, due to the time travel. Its sucks that this movie has no great emotional core, because there were so many layers where it could had added more to the main story. Instead, we got a very loose-unexplored love interest with Rachel Granger (Samantha Thomson); whom Abe is seeing, that subplot involving her father, Thomas (Chip Carruth) seem to come, out of nowhere. It was very faulty. Even the music, also score by Carruth barely add anything to the film. None of the tracks, were engaging or compelling. Another thing that hurts the movie from reaching masterpiece standards, is the horrible editing. Carruth frequently deploys vicious jump-cuts, when it doesn't need it. It's really disorienting. Even the cinematography isn't much to look at. Every frame in this film is dull looking with ugly color scheme. However, the biggest complain, I have, against the movie is that it's a little too low budget. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of special effects & the absence of key action scenes like the gunman at the party scene. The "incident" could probably be the dramatic high point of the film. But here, it happens off-camera. Very disappointing. The movie feel cheap, when it shouldn't. Despite that, Carruth's goal of portraying time travel in a down-to-earth realism was a success. His years as a mathematic and former engineer pay off. It's quite possibly the most single nerdiest film ever made, and one that brings sci fi realism up to bar. While, not for everybody, it's a film, you don't need to pass a MENSA exam to enjoy. Overall: Despite no prior filmmaking experience, Carruth's movie blew everyone's minds at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival & has since then, continue that thread. It's cerebral stimulating. Check it out.
Review of Primer
Primer
(2004)
It's time to think outside the box! Go see Primer! This smart movie is really out of the norm!
3 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers