Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel | Second Chance Cinema

So part of Second Chance Cinema is to bring up movies that I think deserve a second chance after maybe not doing so well. In this film's case not doing so well was the film making all of $23,820 and not seeing a release in cinemas outside of the UK where the film ran for all of 2 days, which just to be clear means it was never eligible for the Oscars . So it's a pretty good bet very few people have heard of this film and it really does deserve a second chance. Also it feels like a good film given present things to remind people of better times.

Plot:

So without spoiling too much a Sci-fi obsessed nerd called Ray (Chris O'Dowd), having been fired from his job, decides to have a relaxing night out with his friend and equally Sci-Fi obsessed nerd Toby (Marc Wootton) who has dreams of creating a great movie and their other friend Pete (Dean Lennox Kelly) who pretends not to care about much Sci-fi. Having gone to the cinema they then decide to go to the local pub, on the way discussing how the film they just saw wasn't great and how Hollywood isn't great at doing good Sci-fi anymore. Toby talks about some of the film ideas he's written down in his notepad based on things Ray and Pete have said.

Once in the Pub they eventually decide to write an angry letter to Hollywood telling them how awful they are at making Sci-fi films. After Ray is sent into the Snug (other small part of the pub) to get drinks from the bar there as there's less of a queue, he ends up with a mysterious girl introducing herself to him as Cassie (Anna Faris). Cassie claims she's from an organisation in the future that travels back in time to repair time leaks and one of the few perks of the job is meeting well known historical figures and by her time Ray is one. Ray suspecting this is a set up by his mates but still interested in her manages to try an awkwardly flirt a bit before excusing himself to get back to his friends with their drinks.

Back at the table he asks Toby and Pete to come clean about trying to set him up only for them to deny any knowledge of the girl and suggest maybe some-one else has set him up with an escort paid to roleplay out what the person thinks would be Rays fantasy scenario. Ray says how he doesn't think anyone would do that. Eventually Pete has to go for a slash (a piss). When Pete leaves the bathroom and returns to the pub he walks into a scene of devastation with the pub filled with Dead bodies includes the bodies of himself, Ray and Toby. He runs back into the toilet and washes his face and eyes to calm himself down. Upon exiting the toilet again however the pub is seemingly back to normal. Returning to the table Pete tells Ray and Toby what he just witnessed. 

Image source = IMDB

Ray suggests Pete is taking the piss before it's eventually decided that all of them should go to the toilets and see if anything else happens. Ray still believing this is a prank or something by Pete and Toby remarks how he thinks they've got some-one in one of the cubicles in a costume of some kind ready to jump out at him, however he finds nothing as Pete insists he's not making up what he saw. After the friends exit the toilet and return to the bar they find it perfectly normally and swear Pete was making it up. However on the way back to their tablet they discover some-one else sitting there. Themselves from earlier in the night and thus they have to go hide lest they cause issues with time by 2 versions of themselves interacting.

Ray realises however that the point in the night was before he met Cassie and as such waits until his past self is done talking to her and as she goes to leave he then gets her attention and tells her about where he believes the time leak is and that it's not fixed. Cassie walks out of the pub thinking that Ray saying the men's toilet is where the leak is was a joke only to return again moments later in a different outfit saying Ray was right and for her 6 months have passed. 

Image Source = IMDB

She claims everything has been fixed and her and Ray can go talk out in the garden for a bit where they won't be disturbed as they wait for the previous versions of Ray, Toby and Pete to go into the toilet and go back in time. 

However unexpectedly a couple comes out and disturbs Ray and Cassie's talk with Cassie saying she needs to investigate as the couple weren't meant to come outside for a bit longer yet. Rather than go back into the men's the group decide to go into the Womens toilets instead. However when they exist they are in the runs of what remains of the pub.

To say more would spoil a lot of the plot points but the group have to content with the various future events and more jumps through time. Ray discovers how he ends up famous and the group discover they're all in the crosshairs of a group called the editors who have chosen to use time travel to edit history as they see fit.

Acting

The acting is fine across the board with Chris O'Dowd (Roy in The IT Crowd [UK]), Marc Wootton (La La Land, Nativity 2 & 3), Dean Lennox Kelly (Kev in Shameless [UK]) and Anna Faris (Cindy in Scary Movie 1-4) all doing a good job. I can't really say there is a stand out performance but I can say that Meredith MacNeill (Blackball) seems to be having the most fun in her role as Millie. 

Image source = IMDB

 I should also like that [Potential spoiler highlight to view] Meredith MacNeill's performance feels very much like a female version of Raul Julien in his performance as M Bison in the Street Fighter Movie. [potential spoiler ends]

Effects:

This is a fairly low budget affair mostly and while there are some effects don't expect high end ones. There are some quite impressive bits of set design and practical work. Also while not the most high end effect the giant insect that is literally in it for about 1 joke was quite well done. The effects won't blow you away bit they're passable for what the film needed them to do.

Themes:

Frequently asked questions about time travel has a few themes worth talking about. The first one is kind of a commentary upon the nature of fame and the price of it. The idea of what price would you be willing to pay to go down in history books. A secondary theme is about friendship and part of the nature of male friendships, something certain parts of the media seem to have forgotten about or constantly try to present as some other kind of repressed feelings (Here's looking at you every damn website or poster that has talked about how two male friends on a show should become a couple in canon because the internet demands it).

Image source = IMDB

The third theme being an exploration of time travel concepts and the nature of causality combining a number of different theories on time travel from cyclic universe theory to multiverse theory to the idea of the grandfather paradox. 

The final theme tackled a little bit by the film is the argument of the worth of an artist vs their art as in the film the Editors are able to look back, with full hindsight, and see what artists contributed to culture as a whole and go back and kill them after their greatest creation. The idea of looking back at the past and suggesting doing that, to some, might be appealing to some but it is also the ultimate act of the fandom or people who love that work seemingly striking back at the creator to remove some of the more human aspects of their lives. One can only hope to be able to create one major cultural property and then be allowed to be happy with that and that being fine. The romanticised view of history some have were the greatest artists die young or die after completing their masterpiece tends to ignore other artists who made their masterpieces and lived on for many years.

Last Piece 

In the end Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel is a film that manages to explore Sci-Fi ideas and concepts while telling a pretty interesting tale and adding in plenty of jokes both based round the ideas of time travel and other aspects of life in general. 

While it's not on any streaming services (that I know of) at present it's well worth renting or even buying on something like Google Play it in my opinion and somehow with concepts such as the editors and the nature of the artist, their art and the price of fame it somehow seems more relevant than ever given everything that's been happening in 2020.