one of my absolute favorites!

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

A sci-fi romantic comedy with an intriguing concept: A gadget is invented that lets you know exactly when you will meet 'The One', getting rid of 'all the guesswork'.This movie does some interesting things with it, but not enough, and then it stops being interesting for a flat ending.It deals with a woman who has decades of waiting to do and shows how she is resigned to her fate and only has one-night stands in the meantime, preferably with 'timer-guys' since they aren't 'conflicted'.It explores another woman who's timer is blinking because her One hasn't gotten a timer yet, and her frustrating search for him, trying to get her dates to put on a timer to know for sure if she should stay with them.It also briefly touches on a case of a young boy who meets his One when he is 14 and still inexperienced and confused.But that's as interesting as it gets. I had a million questions and ideas while watching the movie, but the movie just lazily attaches a predictable ending, and you can see they just stopped thinking at a certain point.For example, the young boy: What is the damage to someone who sees his life already mapped out for him at 14? Wouldn't he possibly lash out and try to have sex with as many other girls as possible?If the timer 'only confirms what you already know', then why was the timer's revelation at the end so obviously wrong for everyone? Where are the organized groups of people against the timer? Pick a reason: Religion, adventure-seekers, bohemians, people who don't believe in the One, or in monogamy, etc etc.Why did Steph want to remove the timer? She already knew what it says that it would take 14 more years... there would be no change in her mind after removing it.Why did Dan get a timer after he was so sure that he already had the One and seemed so against it?Technically, how can the Timer read 'Oxytocin' levels ('the hormone of love') if you haven't fallen in love yet? But I suppose one has to ignore things like this and suspend disbelief for a while...And lots of interesting questions that this movie never explores: What if you are supposed to have two Ones (one after the other)? What if you fall in love with two people at once? Why don't people ever doubt the Timer? What if you are supposed to get some life experience with someone who isn't the One before you meet the One? What happens if you meet the One but then screw it up by cheating on them? Why aren't there people who never meet the One? Why don't people think of these and many more questions like these in this movie? And if the Timer is really only measuring hormones, then these questions are perfectly valid and many more like them.And then there's the ending: A confused and unsatisfactory mess. So they force themselves to get to know each other and suddenly avoid people they really care for just because the Timer told them to... not exactly a happy ending, and it doesn't go with what the Timer is all about as well. I can appreciate that things aren't supposed to click all at once, and that what we need (versus what we want for now) may not be obvious at first, but why aren't people doubting that they may be making it happen only because of the Timer? And so on. In summary: This is the kind of idea that could have been 500 times better in capable hands (Gondry? Kaufman?). Which makes this lazy movie that less enjoyable.

In a near future, many people wear a timer implanted in their wrists by matchmakers to find their soul mates and true love. The twenty-nine year-old orthodontist Oona O'Leary (Emma Caulfield) is worried about her future since she cannot find her true love. When she meets the twenty- two year old supermarket cashier and musician Mikey Evers (John Patrick Amedori), his timer shows that they will be together in four months and she falls for him.Oona lives with her stepsister and best friend Steph Depaul (Michelle Borth) that works as receptionist in a nursing home. When Steph meets the widow Dan (Desmond Harrington) that does not wear a timer, they start seeing each other. Meanwhile Oona finds that Mikey's timer is fake and she is affected by her discovery. The birthday of Oona and Steph is on the same day and their mother Marion Depaul (JoBeth Williams) invites Mikey and Dan to the party. On the eve, Oona and Steph decide to remove the timer, but when Oona is ready to take it of, the timer is activated by someone who has just implanted it. Who could be her soul mate?"TiMER" is a charming romantic comedy with a different but silly concept, but also flawed with an awful conclusion. The idea would be acceptable in a future or a near future, but even Oona's father had implanted a timer when she was born meaning thirty years ago. The perfect message would be with Oona daring to love Mikey free of her mother's oppression for using the timer and Steph and Dan together. Further, there are several questions raised along the story without answer. For example, has Oone reconciled with her father? Did he like Mikey's CD? What has happened to Steph and how would be her relationship with Oona if she stays with Dan? My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Timer – Contagem Regressiva para o Amor" ("Timer- Countdown to Love)

This romantic comedy is set in the near future where technology has advanced considerably. Nothing unexpected there. Supposedly an implant can be attached to a person's body that will count down to the time when the wearer meets their true love.Oona O'Leary is approaching thirty, and her timer has not started its countdown yet. Social convention suggests that couples get together if their counters mark each other. What can Oona do in this situation?In the opening, Oona and Brian meet with Matchmaker Patty after several dates. Brian is from Oklahoma, and has never had a timer. Brian's implant starts showing between two and three years to go. Oona's timer does not start. She's been down this road before. The couple breaks up immediately. As Oona leaves, Matchmaker Patty describes her as a repeat customer.The film has a number of amusing commercials plugging the product. While daydreaming in the checkout line at a store, Oona tunes back in to hear Mikey (checkout person, by day, otherwise a musician) talking to her. Oona's interest is piqued. Oona and half-sister Steph DePaul visit mother Marion DePaul (remarried) for half-brother Jesse's timer install ceremony. They meet the new housekeeper Luz, who speaks next to no English. Jesse gets a target date immediately: in three days plus change. Oona in non-plussed. Steph meets Dan at her first job at the retirement home.Marion advises Oona and Steph how lucky they are. Thanks to the timers, they will miss out on divorce, unrequited love, missed opportunities (not meeting the right one), and STDs. Further, they were so lucky that she broke up with Oona's father and found Paul, and that Paul broke up with Steph's mother. Being happy about two breakups is a bit much, and the overall picture is ridiculously rosy. Do the timers ever fail? Also, how could Marion be so incredibly verbally abusive to her natural daughter? I'm surprised Oona did not hit her upside the head.By this point, about 40 minutes in, the film is almost done exposing ideas. Will Oona get anywhere with Mikey? Will Dan be Steph's match? Will the film illuminate possible variations? Will we meet Oona's father? Will he have any wisdom to impart? ------Scores-------Cinematography: 10/10 No problems.Sound: 10/10 No problems.Acting: 6/10 Emma Caulfield, JoBeth Williams, Tom Irwin, Desmond Harrington, and Muse Watson were fine. The other actors were next to forgettable. I don't remember seeing their work before, and I hope to never see them again.Screenplay: 4/10 A nice 20 minute short stretched to 99. There were zero belly laughs, zero chuckles, zero wry smiles. The film fails as a comedy. Where was the romance? One's significant other is chosen for you by factors you cannot control. What are the non-matches supposed to do? The setup is just an excuse for further discrimination against the unlucky. The film fails in the romantic department. SciFi? It did have one idea. Unfortunately, it was a ridiculous one.

Once you accept the premise, that one can scientifically determine who one's soul mate is and when you will meet them, this becomes a near-perfect movie. I placed it immediately among my top favorites and am surprised it has not received widespread attention. Writing was witty, pacing was dead on, directing was superb... Only the sound engineering was lacking, with a few of the lines barely audible and an odd muddiness in some scenes.Casting could scarcely have been improved upon, and characterization was amazingly elegant--someone had to be on screen for only a few seconds before you knew just who they were, and these are not cardboard cutouts but fully fleshed people you will recognize and quickly come to care about. What struck me repeatedly throughout viewing this film was how *authentic* everyone was; the reactions of even minor throwaway characters was dead right every time.Writer/Director Jac Schaeffer has a winner here. If Joss Whedon did _Notting Hill_, the result would be very much like _Timer_.