Movie Review: Project Almanac

Dean Israelite brings us his feature debut with Project Almanac.

David (Jonny Weston, John Dies at the End) is a senior, and super-smart inventor, who just got admitted to MIT.  He can't afford the tuition, so he and his friends start looking for something he can use to secure another scholarship.  While digging through his father's things, who died when he was a kid, he stumbles across plans for a time machine that his dad was developing for the military.  He, along with his two nerdy best friends and his sister, begin working to finish the project.  Of course there needs to be a love interest, so the only way he can give the machine enough power is with a battery from a hybrid car.  His long-time crush just happens to have one, and is going to a party in his neighborhood.  So, she gets drawn into the group as well.  They complete the time machine and start going back to redo little things from their past to make things better.  They make a pact to always travel together, but you know that's not going to happen.  Things eventually go awry and they all learn a little lesson about life.

I have to put this out there right away.  Please stop with the found footage!  This movie actually works on some levels.  Is it great?  No.  Are there other flaws?  Yes.  But, I have to say, the biggest detriment is the found footage.  This is even one of the few films that finds a legitimate reasoning behind it.  It's still a stretch, but it works okay.  The problem is that it would have worked a lot better as a straight narrative film.  Found footage was more of just a gimmick.  Why use it?  You already have the gimmick of time travel.  Time travel sells, focus on that.  The biggest problem with found footage, with this film included, is that there is always inconsistencies with static shots magically changing focus and zoom, and also times when someone is filming something that no human would ever film.  Just stop it already.

Now, off my soap box and on to other matters at hand.  The main catch of the movie, the time travel.  The mechanics are jumbled at best.  They try to explain it some, but none of it makes sense.  They build the thing out of an old X-Box 360 and control it with a cell phone.  The main point is that through some gobble-de-gook explanation, we are informed that they can only go back several weeks because there is not enough power to send them back any further.  I'm not sure if it makes sense, but it helps focus the story.  The good news is that none of that matters, because the real strength of the film lies not in how they get time travel to work, but what they do with it.  Instead of taking the drastic route, the characters in this film actually do what you would expect high school kids to do with something like this.  Quinn (Sam Lerner, Monster House) goes back to pass a chem test, Adam (Allen Evangelista, Mozart and the Whale) goes to win the lottery, Christina (Virginia Gardner) goes back to confront some bullies.  Then, of course, the whole group goes back to enjoy Lollapalooza.  David eventually realizes that Jessie (Sofia Black-D'elia, The Immigrant), whom he has a crush on, also actually likes him.  This is of course is what leads things to go awry.

I love time travel movies and shows and will watch any and all of them.  Only thing is, that no matter how well someone pulls it off, if you think too hard about it, there are holes and it's a headache at best.  With this film, not only did the director have the kids do what you would expect them to do, he also handled the rest of the headaches of time travel competently as well.  Characters meeting themselves, the ripple effect, memory issues on the return trip to the present.  All are dealt with quite well, I felt.

I didn't think there were any standout performances by anybody, but the acting was fine as well.  There is not much of anything to comment about on that.  The story is pretty simple and straightforward with nothing to really grab you.  With that being the case, it ends kind of flat.  Not bad, just not great either.  Overall, Project Almanac is not anything you need to run out to see.  The found footage really is distracting, but if you like the idea of time travel and what ideas people bring to the table, then Dean Israelite might have something here that will at least pique your interest.

Rating: *****----- (5 out of 10) [Netflix it]

Memorable Quote:

Christina: I'd go back to the original premiere of Star Wars.