Time for a Review

Netflix recently kicked an unusual recommendation my way, a movie from Spain called Timecrimes. (Well, called Los Cronocrímenes. Like I said, it's from Spain.) It's sort of a mystery thriller, sort of a sci-fi movie. It's all the way a low-budget movie, made by people with determination and an idea. That idea is the story of a man who, through a series of unusual events, finds himself transported back in time just a few hours, only to participate in an even more unusual series of events.

Plot-wise, it's a very meticulously crafted movie. There aren't any extraneous bits; every moment of every scene is there to serve some specific purpose, to be paid off later in the movie. It walks a balance beam between being labyrinthine in complexity, but straightforward in sequencing.

But there are two problems with this careful approach. First, it results in a very predictable movie. You learn very early on what the game is, and with every dot in the picture so ready to be connected, your mental pen is well ahead of the writer's. Once or twice along the way, the movie manages to throw a surprise in there -- including an interesting turn to set up the final act -- but immediately your mind fills in all that must follow, given how precise a movie it is.

The other problem is that the demands of the plot are so rigid that any motivations of the characters are tossed aside. We never really learn too much about these people, but it's hard to imagine anyone who would behave as people do in this film. A man bandaged up Invisible Man-style asks a young woman to lead him out into the woods alone, and she does? A man is running from a crazed killer whose identity is a mystery, and decides to trust a strange voice on a walkie-talkie that he's never heard before? A science lab that's testing a time machine on the premises doesn't post any security there on the weekends?

In short, the film perfectly answers every question that it brings up itself. And it blithely ignores a host of questions you can't help but ask for yourself. I think this movie aspired to be a science fiction version of Memento or something. While it is somewhat entertaining, it fell well short of the mark. I rate it a C+.