I'll preface this review by saying this film isn't awful. It's watchable, it has a couple of funny moments, one or two really heartwarming spots and a brilliant performance as always from Daniel Stern.
It isn't without its problems though and there are quite a few.
For a start it's just a little bit... boring.
For a film about a time-travelling scientist not a great deal happens and it's quite slow going for large parts.
The actions of the lead character are hard to follow too. His future self comes back, tells him he needs to very specifically NOT do something lest it lead to a miserable, lonely future in a dystopian world... and yet he still presses on with doing the thing he was told not to do until a big revelation moment in the final act.
Perhaps even more unbelievable is the fact that a guy so nerdy (and presumably still a Virgin) would, when mere moments away from finally doing the deed with the girl his future self has already revealed as the love of his life, stop to write up a new theory on his chalkboard.
The film is littered with these kinds of small details that snap you out of the moment to address how unbelievable they are.
Another example is when we discover the protagonists boss has apparently created a particle collider that is allegedly 3x more powerful than the Hadron Collider at CERN... and it fits in a secret box below a coffee table.
I have to give it credit where due, the message of the film is a good one; live for the moment, don't dwell on mistakes of the past or fantasise about what might be in the future, I just think the journey there meanders a little too much.
If you like Daniel Stern you'll get something out of this, even if it's just to hear him shout 'FOR GODS SAKE LOOK AT MY CAWK' after 10 or so minutes of the opening titles.
It isn't without its problems though and there are quite a few.
For a start it's just a little bit... boring.
For a film about a time-travelling scientist not a great deal happens and it's quite slow going for large parts.
The actions of the lead character are hard to follow too. His future self comes back, tells him he needs to very specifically NOT do something lest it lead to a miserable, lonely future in a dystopian world... and yet he still presses on with doing the thing he was told not to do until a big revelation moment in the final act.
Perhaps even more unbelievable is the fact that a guy so nerdy (and presumably still a Virgin) would, when mere moments away from finally doing the deed with the girl his future self has already revealed as the love of his life, stop to write up a new theory on his chalkboard.
The film is littered with these kinds of small details that snap you out of the moment to address how unbelievable they are.
Another example is when we discover the protagonists boss has apparently created a particle collider that is allegedly 3x more powerful than the Hadron Collider at CERN... and it fits in a secret box below a coffee table.
I have to give it credit where due, the message of the film is a good one; live for the moment, don't dwell on mistakes of the past or fantasise about what might be in the future, I just think the journey there meanders a little too much.
If you like Daniel Stern you'll get something out of this, even if it's just to hear him shout 'FOR GODS SAKE LOOK AT MY CAWK' after 10 or so minutes of the opening titles.