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March 16, 2005
Movie Review : Time Changer
The year is 1890. Professor Russell Carlisle (D. David Morin) has written a manuscript titled "The Changing Times" and has submitted it to the board at Grace Bible Seminary for their endorsement.
But one solitary member, Dr. Norris Anderson (Gavin Macleod), refuses to endorse the book when he reads that Carlisle is advocating the teachings of Jesus without mentioning Christ.
Finally, Dr. Anderson reveals that he has created a time machine, and propels Carlisle over a century into the future, where the world is taught morals without religion.
After a year of awful movies like Goldmember and Men in Black II, 2002's Time Changer may have been one of the funniest movies of the year. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be a comedy.
Under the direction of Rich Christiano, the movie showcases production values usually saved for instructional videos and infomercials. The cast is filled with B-actors, all of whom with the exception of Gavin Macleod seem to have phoned in their performance.
Don't be surprised if the acting in this movie actually makes you cringe. It's that bad. To be fair, the actors don't have much to work with. The script reads more like a sermon than a story, with preachy dialogue that doesn't seem to make any sense. Time after time, bit characters explain to Carlisle the reality of the world he's been transported to. At one point, shocked by a total strangers divorced status, the stranger tells him it's okay, that 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce these days. His response (and perhaps one of the funniest and most obvious lines of the movie): "1 in 2! That's 50 percent!"
Ultimately, Time Changer delivers an interesting message, and provokes thought. But it's a message that could be delivered in a matter of minutes, not hours, and in fact seems pretty obvious.
While we live in a secular world, the notion that Christians ought to teach morals in the name of CHRIST doesn't seem that far-fetched. Yet almost the entire board seems to roll over when Carlisle suggests that they do otherwise. Only Anderson raises any objections, and only later does he point out that this is because he has seen the future.
Shouldn't this concept be obvious to anyone who is teaching the word of Christ?
And for a movie that seems to teach that Christianity is more important that simple morality (Anderson chillingly tells us that you can be moral but if you haven't accepted Christ you will "go to hell"), the movie fails to present us with characters who walk the walk.
Along the way, Time Changer introduces us to characters like Eddie Martinez (Paul Rodriguez, actually turning in a good performance), who doesn't attend church, and doesn't know God, but is a moral man. He ends up befriending Carlisle, treating him fairly despite his odd appearance and mannerisms.
Meanwhile, the actual Christians in the film are all creepy. Two of them (for no apparent reason other than boredom) start following Carlisle, spying on him, looking up his background, and then confronting him in an alley, where Carlisle then proceeds to LIE to them and claim that they are about to witness the rapture.
The movie is filled with scenes that make no sense, and characters who appear to have no motivation.
I recommend this movie if you want a good laugh, but be prepared to see it in a theater with a dozen or so angry viewers; angry at you because they don't understand what's so funny. After you see the movie's preachy attack on the secular entertainment industry, you'll realize that Time Changer's clientele are so unexposed to quality filmmaking that they actually buy into the movie.
During one scene, Carlisle gives an uplifting and spirited speech to a group of churchgoers (who are supposed to be having a business meeting, but whatever.) But instead of nods and approval from the members, almost every one looks bored. And this isn't just bad acting... it's quite clear that the extras hired are plain bored (some of them are rolling their eyes or counting ceiling tiles) and they actually PUT IT IN THE MOVIE!
This scene is so hilarious that Jennifer and I simply had to bust up laughing, and were actually shushed... by someone who just minutes earlier had ANSWERED A PHONE CALL IN THE THEATER!!!
Should you wait for Time Changer to come out on DVD before you watch it? Oh, probably. But if you've got $8.50 to blow, and two hours to waste, go watch this film. It actually delivers a pretty intriguing message, if you can get past the preachy dialogue, ridiculous storyline, atrocious acting, and the occasional offensive concepts.
Posted by March at March 16, 2005 12:19 AM
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