Real Time (2008)

Director:

Randall Cole

Writer:

Randall Cole (screenplay)

Release Date:

2008 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Real Time is a comedic drama about a compulsive gambler given one hour to live by the man hired to kill him.

Plot Keywords:

Ontario Canada | Soda | Minimal Cast | Golf Club | Compulsive Gambler

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Randy Quaid	...	Reuban
Jay Baruchel	...	Andy Hayes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ella Chan	...	Kwan
Jayne Eastwood	...	Grandma
Lucy Filippone	...	Hooker
Jeff Pustil	...	Donny
Jeff Teravainen	...	Radio DJ

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references.

Runtime:

USA:80 min (Slamdance Film Festival) | Canada:90 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

APB Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jay Baruchel's character Andy is limping at the end of film he is putting all his weight on his right leg (the injured one) and dragging the supposed good leg.

Movie Connections:

References "Touched by an Angel" (1994)

Best movie I've seen this year.

I recently received a rare opportunity to view this film, and boy am I glad I did. I have never written up a review before, but after seeing this movie I feel like I have to. Just to help get the word out that it exists.

The movie starts out with Andy, a complete and utter gambling addict, walking to the convenience store to buy a lottery ticket because he's feeling lucky. He buys the ticket, loses, and decides to go to the racetrack. On his walk there he is approached by the other main character, Reuben, whom Andy owes a LOT of money. Reuben tells him to get in the car, and proceeds to explain to Andy that he is going to kill him today. However, Andy is a guy that Reuben has always been fond of, so Reuben decides to give him 1 hour to do whatever he wants and come to peace with his life, while staying under Reuben's supervision of course. The rest of the movie is about Andy knowing for a fact that he is about to die and how he deals with it. I won't say any more, but I truly thought it had a beautiful ending.

The movie starts off with a bang, but it does drag for a few minutes in the middle, which is why I knocked off a point. It quickly picks back up though, and the final 15 minutes will have you inches from your TV. I should also note that the movie starts out rather comedic, but the tone rapidly changes to drama. I felt that the trailer didn't really do it justice, as it focused on the comedy part a bit much. In fact, I almost wanna say don't even bother with the trailer.

The movie, as the title suggests, is completely shot in real time. This means that the 73ish minutes that you are sitting there are the exact minutes of Andy's final hour (which is actually slightly over an hour). You see every characters move, every turn of the vehicle, and hear every single word spoken. Fortunately, this is a good thing as the dialogue is excellent, so the car rides on the longer side aren't boring.

After the movie movie ended, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it...which kind of stinks because I don't know anybody else who has seen it and I can't talk about it! So here I am, a couple days later, writing a review in hopes of getting the word of this movie out there.

The story is great, the dialogue is great, the acting is great, and it's a unique approach to film. My bet is that word of this one will catch on real quick and we'll be seeing it in theaters stateside within the year.