Primer tells the story of two young engineers who accidentally create a time machine. It is an independent film that has been nominated for numerous awards, and actually won the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It was made for around $7,000 and grossed nearly $425,000. Not bad for a bunch of first-timers.

The movie opens with four guys sitting around a table discussing business plans. They run a small engineering shop out of their garage, much like the two Steves (Jobs and Wozniak) did when they created Apple computers. The two main players in the film, named Aaron and Abe, end up working on their own project that was originally thought to be a new form of power. After numerous tests, they realize that objects placed inside the machine (which looks like a small refrigerator) were actually moving forward in time. After much discussion, they decide to build two bigger machines and climb inside to see what happens.

The rest of the story gets extremely complicated. First, they realized that going back in time meant that they would have to carefully avoid themselves since the past and present Aaron and Abe would exist at the same time. This was accomplished by hiding out in hotel rooms. Second, they started playing with the stock market and buying lottery tickets in order to amass a small fortune. It seemed like fun and games until Aaron began to wonder what it would feel like to hurt someone if he could go back and fix it later.

Primer runs only 77 minutes long, which makes it shorter than most made-for-television movies. Despite the short running time, it packs quite a punch. This movie is entirely dialogue-driven and there are no special effects other than some camera and lighting tricks. The plot has many layers and is incredibly interesting, though a little hard to follow. If you are watching this and get up to get a drink, you better pause it or you will miss something.

There were a few instances where the low budget constraints reflected on the quality of the movie. In some of the outside scenes, the wind and road noise almost completely drowned out the dialogue. In other scenes, there were a few lighting or sound issues. For the most part, though, this movie looked and sounded pretty good for and indie.

Shane Carruth wrote, directed, and starred as Aaron and did an excellent job. He looks a little bit like Henry Thomas (of E.T.) but not as baby-faced. David Sullivan (Abe) is great in his role as the sane one of the pair who challenges Aaron as things get weirder in their schemes. He looks a lot like Scott Caan. This movie was shot in and around Texas using their friends and nobody in this has had any previous movie experience.

Primer is a fast-paced and somewhat confusing sci-fi movie. If you enjoy good speculative fiction, definitely check this one out.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD