Movie Rewind: Primer (2004)

Director: Shane Carruth

Cast: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya, Carrie Crawford

The Deal: Four friends work out of a garage building error-checking devices, but they all feel that there is something more, something much bigger and revolutionary to discover. They have been working on a device through trial and error, and two of the friends, Aaron (Carruth) and Abe (Sullivan), discover the device's true nature- time travel. Deeming this discovery far too valuable to immediately market, they decide to keep it to themselves, and use it to land successful investments in the stock market. As the two continue to use the device, they butt heads over what they can and can't do, and their friendship becomes strained.

Thoughts: I haven't had to think this hard about a film in a long, long time. Not only is the story complex, but they don't hold back on the scientific lingo. Done on a budget of $7000 by a few engineering students with no film experience, many will find their talk way over-the-top and too confusing for a mass audience. But this is exactly what I feel strengthens the film the most. They aren't polished actors in any way, but they are engineers, and they are playing engineers, so the end result is that they are perfect for the film. The way they talk, they way they think, and the way they rationalize is exactly the way my friends and I talked while studying engineering in college.

As I mentioned before, the actors have no acting experience. Though many will find this a huge disadvantage for the film, it is actually what makes it the best. Carruth, who's also the writer, director, producer, ect, and Sullivan were both excellent. They were both in their natural element, and it played off that way on screen. The supporting cast, which was made up of their friends and family, had smaller roles, but were very adequate for the film. Only when one considers how small the film's budget was and how little experience the actors had will one realize how good the acting actually was. 

Time travel can be a very messy subject if handled poorly. They don't go out of their way to make everything jump out on the first viewing, but with multiple viewings, everything does add up. Surprisingly, they handle time travel better than most films out there. They are very concerned about the consequences of being seen in two places at once, as well as with the results of changing the past. They go into great detail on how their machine works and how the time flow functions. Through the combination of this attention to detail with their actual knowledge of engineering, the performances work and make for an incredibly suspenseful film from start to finish.

Verdict: An extremely complex film that will require multiple viewings. Despite a $7000 budget and no acting experience, the film is both excellent and delivered very believably. ☆☆☆☆1/2