Director: Gareth Carrivick
Running time: 83 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15
UK release date: 24th April 2009
Watched on Sky+ Sunday 8th August 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
This is a British made film, actually a co-production between BBC films, Dog Lamp Films and HBO Films, but made here in the UK. I saw it mentioned last year on TV and thought it was one I would never see as it didn’t make it to any of my local cinemas. But thanks to it being a BBC co-production, it aired in TV this week and I’m really glad I got to finally see it.
Three friends, Ray, Toby and Pete work at an amusement park. Ray has just been sacked from his job after making his depiction of life in the Space Corps to a bunch of kids a little bit too realistic. He is a bit of a sci-fi geek and is really into the concept of time travel. Toby, also a bit of a geek, is an aspiring writer and is always jotting down ideas in a black book he always carries with him. Pete is just an ordinary guy out with his mates. After work they decide to go to the cinema and then on to the pub. They were not impressed with the film they saw and decide to write a letter to Hollywood on the back of one of the pages from Toby’s book. With glasses empty, Ray is volunteered to get a round in. He goes through to the next room where he meets Cassie, a girl who claims to be from the future. She has come back to fix a hole in time. Ray initially treats this chance meeting as a joke, but things are about to get very serious for the three friends.
Obviously made on a very small budget with most of the action centred on the pub, but nonetheless a very well made film. Quite a short film at only 83 minutes, but this, to me, was just about the right length. Decent performances all around, so honourable mentions must go out to; Chris O'Dowd as Ray, Marc Wootton as Toby, Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete, Anna Faris as Cassie and Meredith MacNeill as Millie.
As a bit of a fan of Sci-Fi I really enjoyed this film. I found it clever and witty and it put me in mind of the great British TV comedy ‘Red Dwarf’, although it’s not set in space. A nicely written script with likeable characters and not too many clichés, to me, (and I’ll probably get slagged off for this) even better than ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (shock!).
I read that the director, Gareth Carrivick sadly died earlier this year from Leukaemia. He had worked in TV on many shows I have enjoyed over the years, particularly comedy and I think this was a good one to finish on, nice work sir! Recommended.
My score: 7.4/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0910554/
Official Site: http://www.faqmovie.co.uk/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi408552217/
Running time: 83 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15
UK release date: 24th April 2009
Watched on Sky+ Sunday 8th August 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
This is a British made film, actually a co-production between BBC films, Dog Lamp Films and HBO Films, but made here in the UK. I saw it mentioned last year on TV and thought it was one I would never see as it didn’t make it to any of my local cinemas. But thanks to it being a BBC co-production, it aired in TV this week and I’m really glad I got to finally see it.
Three friends, Ray, Toby and Pete work at an amusement park. Ray has just been sacked from his job after making his depiction of life in the Space Corps to a bunch of kids a little bit too realistic. He is a bit of a sci-fi geek and is really into the concept of time travel. Toby, also a bit of a geek, is an aspiring writer and is always jotting down ideas in a black book he always carries with him. Pete is just an ordinary guy out with his mates. After work they decide to go to the cinema and then on to the pub. They were not impressed with the film they saw and decide to write a letter to Hollywood on the back of one of the pages from Toby’s book. With glasses empty, Ray is volunteered to get a round in. He goes through to the next room where he meets Cassie, a girl who claims to be from the future. She has come back to fix a hole in time. Ray initially treats this chance meeting as a joke, but things are about to get very serious for the three friends.
Obviously made on a very small budget with most of the action centred on the pub, but nonetheless a very well made film. Quite a short film at only 83 minutes, but this, to me, was just about the right length. Decent performances all around, so honourable mentions must go out to; Chris O'Dowd as Ray, Marc Wootton as Toby, Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete, Anna Faris as Cassie and Meredith MacNeill as Millie.
As a bit of a fan of Sci-Fi I really enjoyed this film. I found it clever and witty and it put me in mind of the great British TV comedy ‘Red Dwarf’, although it’s not set in space. A nicely written script with likeable characters and not too many clichés, to me, (and I’ll probably get slagged off for this) even better than ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (shock!).
I read that the director, Gareth Carrivick sadly died earlier this year from Leukaemia. He had worked in TV on many shows I have enjoyed over the years, particularly comedy and I think this was a good one to finish on, nice work sir! Recommended.
My score: 7.4/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0910554/
Official Site: http://www.faqmovie.co.uk/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi408552217/
Posts
1 comment:
That's extremely sad news about the director but sadly, I can't agree with you on the merits of his film. I thought the premise was interesting but it then descended into a bit of a mess which Anna Faris has to explain to us and the other characters every 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was as funny or as clever as it needed to be and even though it's extremely short, boredom was setting in.
Post a Comment