The one thing we can either spend or squander but can never buy back is time. When we were young, it's something that what we once thought was an inexhaustible well. In youth, we live in the moment of ambition or idleness, caution or recklessness--so self-absorbed that the small things we neglect are always put off and attend to them tomorrow. The small things manifest over time, and when that tomorrow comes and it's time to attend to them, you are old, and you realise that the small trivial things once thought of as inconsequential have amassed into a large and wonderful piece of your life...which you've missed.
This is the dilemma of Dante: an ambitious, self-absorbed workaholic that has deluded himself into thinking that all will be well for the future if he works tirelessly in the present. He is the absentee boyfriend of Alice: an affectionate soul and aspiring artist who absolutely adores Dante. She makes him a morning birthday pancake and later throws him a 40th birthday party, to which Dante almost ruins by arriving late.
The following morning, Alice is in the kitchen, making Dante a special pancake for his 41st birthday. Alice is nauseous from morning sickness. By the time he adds up the clues and realises he's lost an entire year, he's wished a happy 42nd birthday, and is asked to tend to his infant daughter. At any given moment, Dante can turn a corner and another year is lost. Not being able to catch up with new technology or slow down for the most important people in his life, he is on an accelerated trajectory of his future which is quickly becoming his present, and even quicker, becoming his past.
There have been many movies which use this concept in one way or another. Though this movie is indeed solid, it lacked a certain panic or sense of urgency. Dante was being told about what changes have transpired between his time-jumps, yet never discovered them for himself. It scratched the surface of what he and other characters were feeling, but never really dug deep into the heart of what they truly needed. It would have raised the stakes for Dante, and ratcheted up the drama a few notches.
The film overall is a thought-provoking tale which makes one ponder and reflect on their own life, and how we spend and share our time. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come. All we have is now.
This is the dilemma of Dante: an ambitious, self-absorbed workaholic that has deluded himself into thinking that all will be well for the future if he works tirelessly in the present. He is the absentee boyfriend of Alice: an affectionate soul and aspiring artist who absolutely adores Dante. She makes him a morning birthday pancake and later throws him a 40th birthday party, to which Dante almost ruins by arriving late.
The following morning, Alice is in the kitchen, making Dante a special pancake for his 41st birthday. Alice is nauseous from morning sickness. By the time he adds up the clues and realises he's lost an entire year, he's wished a happy 42nd birthday, and is asked to tend to his infant daughter. At any given moment, Dante can turn a corner and another year is lost. Not being able to catch up with new technology or slow down for the most important people in his life, he is on an accelerated trajectory of his future which is quickly becoming his present, and even quicker, becoming his past.
There have been many movies which use this concept in one way or another. Though this movie is indeed solid, it lacked a certain panic or sense of urgency. Dante was being told about what changes have transpired between his time-jumps, yet never discovered them for himself. It scratched the surface of what he and other characters were feeling, but never really dug deep into the heart of what they truly needed. It would have raised the stakes for Dante, and ratcheted up the drama a few notches.
The film overall is a thought-provoking tale which makes one ponder and reflect on their own life, and how we spend and share our time. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never come. All we have is now.