Overdrawn at the Memory Bank 

The mind of a computer programmer forced to take a virtual vacation is removed by a totalitarian government and accidentally trapped in the virtual reality simulation. He must find a way out before he expires.

Director:

Douglas Williams

Writers:

John Varley (short story), Corinne Jacker (teleplay)

Stars:

Raul Julia, Linda Griffiths, Donald Moore

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Linda Griffiths	...	Computech Apollonia James
Raul Julia	...	Aram Fingal / Rick Blaine
Donald Moore	...	Novicorp Chairman / The Fat Man (as Donald C. Moore)
Wanda Cannon	...	Felicia Varley / Lola
Helen Carscallen	...	Dr. Darwin
Rex Hagon	...	Shuttle Passenger (as Rex Hagan)
Patrick Brymer	...	Nirvana Clerk
Chapelle Jaffe	...	Djamilla
Denise Pidgeon	...	Doppling Medico (as Denise Pigeon)
Bunty Webb	...	Teacher
Audra Williams	...	Desirée
Hadley Kay	...	Marco
Gary Farmer	...	Tooby
Arnie Achtman	...	Slavin
Maury Chaykin	...	Gondol

Storyline

Raul Julia plays Aram Fingal, a very intelligent computer programmer and a very bored man in the employ of Novicorp, a mega-corporation that exists somewhere in the future. When caught watching "Casablanca" at his desk, Fingal is required to undergo rehabilitation therapy called "doppling." Doppled patients find their minds transferred into the bodies of animals for a new outlook on life (and for a number of amusing nature documentary sequences narrated by Julia). However, Fingal's body is misplaced and he is transferred into a computer while the body is located. With the help of Appolonia James, a medical technician played by Linda Griffiths, Fingal manages to reprogram himself into a simulation of Casablanca and eventually gains access to Novicorp's financial computers, bringing the company to its knees. But Fingal's real problem is getting back into his body before his memory patterns are erased.

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Plot Keywords:

programmer | casablanca | virtual reality | romance episode | nightclub | 

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Taglines:

Caught in a future world, his only escape is back in time.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Abandomoviez.net (Spanish)

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1985 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

RSL, SFTV, WNET Channel 13 New York

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

All of the animal footage during the sequence where Fingal is doppled into a baboon is taken from the film Beautiful People (1974).

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Goofs

We see that for the six hours of real time, the equivalent of several months pass for Aram Fingal inside the computer. However, in numerous scenes, Appollonia (in the real world) speaks to Fingal at a normal pace. To Fingal, these few seconds should have seemed to stretch out for hours; he should not have been able to comprehend them as they were spoken.

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Quotes

Appollonia: I wouldn't wish that no good drone on anyone. Now he has started playing around with himself!

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Connections

Features Beautiful People (1974)

User Reviews

Pure, Asinine Genius.

I'm giving this movie a 10, not because it's a classic, but because for the B-movie genre, it's one of the best I've ever seen. The cheesy computer effects are hilarious. It's one of those films where you wonder "How much weirder is this going to get?" If you can get into the mind of a sentimental dreamer, this won't disappoint. How can you resist Julia dressed as Humphrey Bogart? Pure, asinine genius. If you go into this with a sense of humor. It's a lot of fun. Even with it's obvious continuity flaws it manages to entertain. If you like anteaters, be forewarned. There's a lot of anteater bashing. The plot is like a low-budget "Total Recall." Heat the popcorn and get ready to laugh.