TiMER at Tribeca Film Festival

I just got back from the Tribeca Film Festival premier of TiMER, and as I expected, I absolutely loved it! I was very much surprised to discover that this is the first feature film for writer/ director Jac Schaeffer. Not only was the movie well-written and beautifully executed, but I found so many aspects of the movie totally relatable and that always helps. First of all, the story follows the main character, Oona(played by Emma Caulfield)- a 29-year old successful Orthadontist due to turn 30 in January- on her quest to find out, definitively, whether her soul mate exists, or if she is doomed to live a loveless existance. The twist is that in the universe of the movie, a device has been invented which, if implanted into the wrist of a person, will count down to the exact moment that you will meet your soulmate- that is if your soul mate also has the device implanted into his/her wrist. These devices have become so popular that virtually everyone in the world has them, except of course for old people and skeptics. Once your eyes meet the person that is your "one" your timer zeros out and you are destined to live happily ever after

Oona goes about her daily life with a blank timer on her wrist, searching for potential soul mates in the remaining few eligible bachelors left on the planet who do not have a timer (hoping that once they get one, hers will zero out, and she will have found her life companion). Until one day she meets a disheveled 22-year old grocery clerk/ drummer from Michigan (Played by John Patrick Amedori, a dead ringer for James Franco) who has no effect on her timer, but changes her entire perception of how she should be living her life.

With a topic as cliche as true love and soul mates, and a soggy genre such as the romantic comedy, this film had every opportunity to become generic and predictable, but it absolutely did not! The dialogue was witty and the storyline was clever. Yes, the story taught us a lesson in love but there was no corny moment at the end where the male and female leads ride off together into the sunset. The plot twists surprisingly reflected a harsh reality more than I would have expected for a movie with such a far-fetched premise, and I found that to be refreshing. The movie drove home the fact that love cannot be forced and is often hard to recognize or fit neatly into a little box that you can lock up tight and keep safe for all eternity.

The cherry on top of this spectacular treat, for me, was the use of the song Trapeze Swinger, as performed by Iron and Wine, in the final scene of the movie. I absolutely love this song, and if I wasn't already in love with this movie, I would have been as soon as I heard it played over the credits!

I would give TiMER 2 enthusiastic thumbs up!