*** - A skinny Canadian loser travels back through time with the use of a magical barcalounger in order to save his dying girlfriend in this 2005 Vancouver-based sci-fi film that is basically a cross between “Back to the Future” and “The Butterfly Effect”. While I found this movie to be mostly enjoyable, its main fault (besides the lack of originality in its story idea) was the fact that I had some trouble following the main character’s time jumps. I think this is the result of the film’s extremely low budget, as there were no fancy make-up effects utilized to make characters look younger, and no extra actors to play younger versions of characters, thereby causing all time periods to seem pretty much the same. What saves this from becoming just another crummy low budget sci-fi failure, though, is its sense of humor. The script is surprisingly lively (not to mention littered with extremely foul language) with some really funny lines that are pulled off rather well by the main character and a couple of the secondary ones, such as the lead character’s homeless mentor played by actor/musician Jim Byrnes. I certainly can’t recommend this too highly for those who aren’t fond of time travel films, but if one gives this a chance and is able to sit through the rather dull first 15 minutes, I think the dialogue and self-aware cheesiness may win you over.
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