Primer (2004)

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.

Director:

Shane Carruth

Writer:

Shane Carruth

Stars:

Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

changing the future | nonlinear timeline | invention | time travel | independent film | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Kapsül

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$28,162, 10 October 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$424,760, 19 December 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

ERBP

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shane Carruth stated that at most an 80-minute movie could be made from the footage; the film ended up being 78 minutes long. He stated that the shooting ratio was 2:1.

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Goofs

When Aaron and Will are talking on the basketball court, a boom shadow is visible on Will's shoulder.

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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,...

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Crazy Credits

Thanks to Scott Douglass for having the faith to invest in the final stages of marketing and post production

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Connections

Featured in Visionado obligado: Primer (2012)

User Reviews

All the right elements that just don't come together well.

First let me start off by saying I love science fiction especially when the theme is Time travel. Second I love independent movies as it gives me a chance to focus on a story without being distracted by big budget effects or big Hollywood stars. Third I love strange nonlinear movies or movies that doesn't always explain everything leaving the viewer to speculate what happened. So given all this I should've loved Primer but I didn't. Primer suffers from some of the worst dialogue ever and I mean the worst ever! The jargon didn't bother me as much as it did some people, as a science fiction fan I am used to tech talk jargon so whether or not it can be understood by science egg heads or not doesn't concern me. What concerns me is so much dialogue was spoken but nothing was ever said. Sometimes dialogue from several characters overlap and you're never sure who's speaking. Worse yet since this is a time travel movie when you hear Aaron speak you're not sure if it's Aaron A or Aaron B or Aaron C etc...There are times when the story seems to jump around for no apparent reason like when the characters are all of a sudden in a fountain looking for a cat??????? Some people have suggested reading the Wikipedia plot analysis but what kind of movie needs a plot analysis to enjoy? The characters were dull and most of the time I didn't care or feel anything for them, I even hoped one would be killed off so I only had to follow the other guy. If you are looking for a good time travel movie that was also a low budget movie I suggest "Time crimes" over this movie any day.