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Title: Primer (2004)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Shane Carruth | ... | Aaron | |
| David Sullivan | ... | Abe | |
| Casey Gooden | ... | Robert | |
| Anand Upadhyaya | ... | Phillip | |
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Carrie Crawford | ... | Kara |
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Jay Butler | ... | Metalshop Worker |
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John Carruth | ... | Man On Couch #1 |
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Juan Tapia | ... | Man On Couch #2 |
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Ashley Warren | ... | Hostess |
| Samantha Thomson | ... | Rachel Granger | |
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Chip Carruth | ... | Thomas Granger |
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Delaney Price | ... | Laney |
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Jack Pyland | ... | Aaron's Co-worker |
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Keith Bradshaw | ... | Clean Room Technician |
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Ashok Upadhyaya | ... | Laboratory Technician |
Engineers Aaron, Abe, Robert and Phillip are working on an invention, the prototype being built in Aaron's garage. This project is beyond their day jobs. The project truly does belong to Aaron and Abe, as they use all their free time working on it, primarily trying to overcome the many engineering related problems they've encountered. It is during one of his tests with the invention running that Abe discovers that a protein inside the main unit has multiplied much more rapidly than it could in nature. Rather than the invention being a protein super incubator, Abe, using himself as a guinea pig, and a very meticulous one at that, discovers that the invention can be used as a time machine. In his self experiment, Abe was especially careful not to interfere with his own self in that time warp. Abe passes along this discovery to Aaron, who he expects will tell his wife Kara in what is the sanctity of their marriage, but he doesn't want to tell either Robert or Phillip. Much to Abe's ... Written by Huggo
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"Primer" starts out innocently like a "Start-up.com" docu-drama and the first part covers some of those same financial, friendship and entrepreneurial issues as computer geek engineers work out of of one of the partner's garage to perfect an invention.
But gradually, in this antiseptic atmosphere of white shirts, electrical experiments and tweaking mechanics, every human emotion, virtually as every seven deadly sin, except sloth, and beyond, starting with greed, takes them over.
Without any explanation to the audience, we gradually figure out that we're seeing a cleverer, low budget "Paycheck" or what "Ground Hog Day" played for laughs and an original "Outer Limits" episode did for irony (I didn't see "The Butterfly Effect" to see how it also dealt with time changes).
Rather this is an attempt to seriously examine the philosophical issues of chaos theory and how inventions can't be divorced from human frailties, both mental and physical.
Shane Carruth, as the lead actor/writer/director/producer is a true auteur--and could therefore give his nerd a wife and kid-- but perhaps an outside editor could have helped make the permutations a bit clearer as I didn't quite follow the intersections with outside characters. I followed enough to get caught up in the anxiety and suspense of each iteration.
It was amusing that I was the only woman in the audience.