A couple of weeks ago I watched The Jacket, a time travel tale that cared nothing for the method of travel or even the potential repercussions, it was all about the characters and damn the consequences. Primer is the anti-Jacket , it’s a film that could well make your head explode trying to keep track of who went where when. It’s also bloody brilliant.
Four guys are trying to come up with a breakthrough invention that will make their name and their fortune. When one of them makes an unexpected discovery he teams up with one of the others to explore its potential, shutting the other pair out. Little do they realise that what they discover will lead to them building a time machine.
Said time machine lacks the fancifulness of H.G.Wells or Back to the Future though, consisting of some tubes, wires and…well it’s basically just a metal box. Once it’s operational the film poses the question – what would you do if you could nip forward in time? Our protagonists initially decide to use their invention to make some cash but they are also mindful of what could happen if they bump into themselves. Of course things go pear shaped when they deviate from the routine and the pair’s friendship is tested to the limit as they desperately try to put things back in order.
The cast of unknowns are convincing as the nerdy wiz kids with David Sullivan and Shane Carruth spouting technobable like it means something (which given Carruth’s engineering background it probably does).
Shot on a micro budget of $7000 the film has a far more polished look than it should for that money. I haven’t been this impressed with a low budget début feature since Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, although that film cost almost ten times as much to make.
As well as starring in the film Carruth also writes, directs and produces, in fact he’s almost single-handedly (he also wrote the evocative score along with fulfilling several other key positions) created a film that will delight and infuriate in equal measure, a film that will hopefully reward repeat viewings. In fact after it had finished I was left with the urge to watch it again and, given the relatively short running time (sub 80mins) I may even do that now…
