TiMER: Movie Review

A cheerfully original rom-com.

Finally our clocks have counted down and we have Jac Schaeffer's TiMER in our lives; a fantastic romantic comedy has been brought into the world. Sure, all romantic comedies follow the same trend, cute girl wants to meet her soul mate. The poor ones do it with horrible main characters and ridiculously unfunny contrived situations. The better ones add comedy and likable characters. And now, here comes TiMER - smart, well-written, romantic and funny.		2009 Directed by: Jac Schaeffer Screenplay by: Jac Schaeffer Starring: Emma Caulfield, Scott Holroyd
In the world of TiMER, people have timers installed in their wrists which count down to the moment you meet your soulmate. Everybody’s path is different, perhaps you’ve already met your one true love, others have years until they meet the one, and others know that their soulmate is literally right around the corner. For the timer to work, both parties have to have theirs installed. This is not some dictatorship world where you are required to buy into pre-ordained fate, you can choose free will and live the life the way the audience in the real world does – not know what is just around the corner and find love on your own without some technological device telling you who to love. Oona (Emma Caulfield) is the heroine of this film. She’s a pragmatic romantic and had her timer installed, choosing to let technology/fate tell her who she should be with. Problem is, her timer hasn’t started yet, which means her soulmate hasn’t installed their timer yet. And then she falls for Mikey (John Patrick Amedori), somebody else’s soulmate. TiMER is a good movie because it gives the audience a lot. There are a number of enjoyable characters, all very funny and relatable, and that alone is the primary ingredient in a romantic comedy. There’s also technological ingenuity and originality in the plot, and most importantly, there’s philosophy. Debates about fate vs free will, questions of what is love abound, and just deciding how to live your own life. At its core, TiMER is a very enjoyable movie. The humour is sweet and appropriate for every age, and for every "thinker" out there, there's a lot to over-analyze, and for everyone who doesn't want to think there's enough to enjoy on its surface. This is a well-written romantic comedy, light on the emotions but strong in originality and thoughtfulness.