Timecode Review
by "Steve Rhodes" (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)May 28th, 2000
TIME CODE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
For those who think that what movies need today are more elaborate gimmicks, TIME CODE is the answer, since it is nothing but one long, insufferable gimmick. Simultaneously using 4 digital cameras shooting without stopping until their 90 minute tapes ran out, director Mike Figgis (LEAVING LAS VEGAS and THE LOSS OF SEXUAL INNOCENCE) made 4 movies which he displays in static quadrants on the theater screen.
Collectively these 4 movies form one story with the characters moving freely between the sections of the screen. The most exciting parts are when the characters place cell phone calls across quadrants for a little chitchat.
The result is the artistic type of experiment that seems designed to put film critics in ecstasy over the movie's showy, avant-garde techniques. The film would seem destined to be played and discussed ad nauseam at college film courses.
It should be pointed out that one can achieve almost the same effect any afternoon at your local Sears store by turning 4 adjoining television sets on 4 different soap operas. Yes, this approach will not permit the interaction between frames, but soap operas are so alike that you can easily imagine that the characters in the various shows are conversing.
Most viewers, however, will be more likely to point out TIME CODE's two fatal flaws. First, none of the stories in TIME CODE are worth including in a normal movie. Most of the stories will have viewers alternating between wondering what they are about and not caring what the answer is. Second, although having multiple screens is undeniably cute, it is just a distraction. Sony's new marketing campaign suggests that viewers see the movie four times, watching a different quadrant at each session. Since it's only the interaction between the quadrants that make the story the least bit compelling, concentrating on one would be painful.
The large, stellar cast improvise their parts based on a written outline. In one segment Jeanne Tripplehorn is a rich, jealous lover who suspects that Salma Hayek is unfaithful. Figgis raises the audio level in the quadrant on which he would like us to focus, but even when he tries to get our eyes elsewhere, it's hard to look away as these two actresses in the back of a limo play kissy-face like a pair of love-struck teens.
The only completely satisfying part of the production is the music, especially a long, dreamy section of a Gustav Mahler symphony. Closing your eyes enhances the pleasure, but you run the risk of falling asleep. This is also a problem with your eyes open.
One of the stories involves the casting of a new movie called BITCH FROM LOUISIANA. The producer for that film pitches another idea of his. He wants to make a film called TIME TOILET, a sci-fi comedy in which human waste will travel across time once it is flushed away. I would rather have seen that movie than TIME CODE.
TIME CODE runs a slow 1:30. It is rated R for drug use, sexuality, language and a scene of violence and would be acceptable for older teens.
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