Primer (2004)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Shane Carruth

Writer:

Shane Carruth (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

If you always want what you can't have, what do you want when you can have anything?

Plot:

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.

Plot Keywords:

Garage | Invention | Science | Headphones | Basketball Court

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Shane Carruth	...	Aaron
David Sullivan	...	Abe
Casey Gooden	...	Robert
Anand Upadhyaya	...	Phillip
Carrie Crawford	...	Kara
Jay Butler	...	Metalshop Worker
John Carruth	...	Man On Couch #1
Juan Tapia	...	Man On Couch #2
Ashley Warren	...	Hostess
Samantha Thomson	...	Rachel Granger
Chip Carruth	...	Thomas Granger
Delaney Price	...	Laney
Jack Pyland	...	Aaron's Co-worker
Keith Bradshaw	...	Clean Room Technician
Ashok Upadhyaya	...	Laboratory Technician

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language.

Runtime:

77 min | Turkey:73 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Addison, Texas, USA

Trivia:

The device in the movie is a person-sized, metal box that hums. One scene features Abe and Aaron standing behind some trees, as they watch themselves enter a U-Haul Storage facility. This scene was filmed in Carrollton, TX (a suburb of Dallas, TX), and in 2005 these trees were cleared to build a Hummer dealership.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Abe and Aaron are in the walk-in freezer at the university lab, at the end of the scene, the knee of a crew member holding the mike is visible when they walk out the door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Aaron: [Sound of a phone ringing. Aaron, voiceover:] Here's what's going to happen. I'm gonna read this, and you're gonna listen, and you're gonna stay on the line. And you're not gonna interrupt, and you're not gonna speak for any reason. Some of this you know. I'm gonna start at the top of the page.
[pause]
Aaron: Meticulous, yes. Methodical, educated; they were these things. Nothing extreme. Like anyone, they varied. There were days of mistakes and laziness and in-fighting, and there were days, good days, when by anyone's judgment they would have to be considered clever. No one would say that what they were doing was complicated. It wouldn't even be considered new, except for maybe in the geological sense. They took from their surroundings what was needed and made of it something more.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards (2005) (TV)

A film for the days when science fiction was about wrestling with ideas . . .

A group of young scientists work at a frantic pace to invent they are not quite sure what, but their efforts start demonstrating interesting side effects. From their work in a small cottage industry of error checking devices they are forced to confront the fact that they have discovered something too valuable to market. As they explore the potential of their machine, they are caught in a frantic loop to second guess themselves.

Science fiction in the cinema has largely been dominated by the visual impact, and so this is a welcome (for some) return to the world of ideas. This is not an easy-rise entertainment film but one where you have to concentrate to keep up, working out the logical implications of what's happening. If made on the scale of Men in Black or the Matrix it would descend to the level of spoof – as it is we follow the two main characters knowing that their actions are having momentous effects on the world around them and on themselves. Instead of flashy graphics, we are left to keep the ramifications of the story in mind as the characters themselves grapple with what they know is happening but can't even let themselves look at directly.