TiMER (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Lewis C

  
  "What's the point in continuing without a guarantee?" A device that tells you the exact amount of time it will be until you meet your soulmate seems to be the perfect answer for heartbreak and uncertainty, but it only causes problems for Oona, who has yet to have her… More
  "What's the point in continuing without a guarantee?" A device that tells you the exact amount of time it will be until you meet your soulmate seems to be the perfect answer for heartbreak and uncertainty, but it only causes problems for Oona, who has yet to have her timer begin to count down (because the person she is meant to be with, whoever they may be, has yet to get one). This frustration and loneliness leads her to begin a casual relationship with a young man whose timer countdown is set to end in just a few months. A fairly interesting tale unravels from this setup, that brings up questions of destiny and what's better, the person who is right for us or the person we choose. A novel premise and thoughtful script from a modern romantic drama? AND a likable protagonist that's not the same caricature we've seen a thousand times (Emma Caulfield gets total credit for pulling that off)? I genuinely liked TiMER, for those reasons and others. This isn't my usual kind of movie, but it's so well made that I enjoyed it. Genre fans will like it even more.

• Cynthia S

  
  Charming. Cute. Enjoyable.

• Spencer S

  
  Genuinely sweet and irrevocably well plotted, Timer is one of those indie comedies that get you unlike its big budgeted star studded counterparts. The impressive Emma Caulfield (Buffy) takes the lead in a future where timers tell you when you will meet your soul mate. The film is made… More
  Genuinely sweet and irrevocably well plotted, Timer is one of those indie comedies that get you unlike its big budgeted star studded counterparts. The impressive Emma Caulfield (Buffy) takes the lead in a future where timers tell you when you will meet your soul mate. The film is made up of well placed humor, superb performances, even of the supporting actors, and a premise that not only has promise but holds water throughout. There are many twists and turns, completely unforeseeable from the trailer and descriptions of the film. It's not a sci-fi film by any means, substituting any futuristic inquiries for more of a parallel universe or fantasy world, completely believable if you have willing suspense of disbelief. There were laugh out loud moments and heartbreaking ones, technology's stance overwhelming the main character, which is relatable as a thirty-something whose biological clock ticks in synchronicity with the timer on her wrist. With an intriguing subplot and room for our own interpretation of the ending, TiMER only disappoints the crowd with their own conceptions of how this film should end. Many people wanted romantic fluff, but TiMER is beyond its parameters of what a usual indie comedy allows, and therefore is not for the feeble of heart.

• Nicki M

  
  Very original idea for a romantic comedy. Enjoyed this. Cannot understand the reviews saying it was boring! I guess if you are bored by romantic comedies in general, then watching this is not going to do a lot for you, but if you tend to like them, this is an excellent one! The… More
  Very original idea for a romantic comedy. Enjoyed this. Cannot understand the reviews saying it was boring! I guess if you are bored by romantic comedies in general, then watching this is not going to do a lot for you, but if you tend to like them, this is an excellent one! The story here is that they have invented a timer bracelet which can tell you the exact moment you meet "the one" and exactly how long you have to wait in hours and days before that happens. Oona, played nicely by Emma Caulfield, is nearly 30, and hers is yet to register any numbers at all. Either meaning there is no "the one" for her, or he is yet to have the bracelet implanted. She becomes involved with the much younger Mikey, (John Patrick Amedori), who is a check out guy at a supermarket and also plays in an unsuccessful rock band. The two of them really look nice together, age difference be damned, could hardly blame her for falling for him. Mikey has the bracelet, but is registering a time four months down the track, meaning Oona is not his destined one. I don't want to spoil this by giving too much away, but this was a really intelligent and interesting little rom com. I was a little disappointed by the ending, you will understand what I mean once you have seen it, but it did appear to have a happy ending of sorts and you get the impression all works out okay. Not the way I was hoping it would go, but nevertheless, not a bad outcome.

• Leigh R

  
  Mixed feelings. I haven't decided if this was good, bad, or what... It was something that helped pass an hour and a half.

• jay n

  
  Pleasant if farfetched comedy at least puts a newish spin on the romantic comedy formula until the disappointing finale. Good perfomances from the whole cast.

• Chris G

  
  Timer is a small, forgettable film that tries to be cute, but ends up being the definition of boredom. Some time in the future a company will bring to market a device that gets shot into your wrist that will begin counting down to the exact moment you will meet your true love. Like… More
  Timer is a small, forgettable film that tries to be cute, but ends up being the definition of boredom. Some time in the future a company will bring to market a device that gets shot into your wrist that will begin counting down to the exact moment you will meet your true love. Like the new iPhone and video chat, your future sweetheart must also have said device for the timer to begin. A woman pushing thirty (Emma Caulfield) has built her life around finding her "one" with this timer that sadly hasn't started for her yet. This is one of those films that thought it had a great gimmick, but didn't achieve anything real substantial because that great gimmick really sucks. Would humanity really stoop to getting the gratification of knowing when that person would enter their lives? I don't know. Probably. The problem with Timer is that you watch most of the film hoping that true love will overcome a piece of plastic and silicon attached to everyone's wrist, but in the end technology wins out. If there's a metaphor there about us right now I can't see it through the haze. We Shall Overcome has been replaced with Now Serving #47. Sprinkled with bad acting, writing, and directing Timer is your typical direct to video mainstay that keeps rental stores shelves full. It's a good date movie that you'll forget about during dinner or a tumble in the back seat of the car. Seriously, I wrote the title down to write this review later and had no clue what movie this was until i went to IMDb to figure out what movie I was writing about. Don't waste a lot of money on this one because you'll be somewhere later, looking for what you spent on Timer wondering "I thought I had three ones in my pocket". This is a masterpiece in forgetability.

• Mark A

  
  A slow start and a disappointing ending contributed to making this film far less enjoyable than this viewer had hoped. The basic premise requires serious effort to suspend disbelief and this viewer is not sure it was worth it. The middle section in which the two sisters, Oona (Emma… More
  A slow start and a disappointing ending contributed to making this film far less enjoyable than this viewer had hoped. The basic premise requires serious effort to suspend disbelief and this viewer is not sure it was worth it. The middle section in which the two sisters, Oona (Emma Caulfield) and Steph (Michelle Borth), begin to live their lives, oblivious to the "Timer", provided the most fun. This hopeless romantic found the science took all of the mystery out of the mating ritual. Yes there are risks involved in opening oneself up to another. Remove the doubt and what is one left with? The question came up, but the film never answered it as to whether the technology works, or only provides itself with a self-fulfilling prophecy. The acting was passable. The filming was okay. It was the story that offered the biggest disappointment.

• Walter M

  
  The TiMER device allows the wielder to see how long it will be until they meet their one true love, for a special price of $79.99, plus a $1.99 per month service charge. In "TiMER," Oona(Emma Caulfield, of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer"), an orthodontist, has a… More
  The TiMER device allows the wielder to see how long it will be until they meet their one true love, for a special price of $79.99, plus a $1.99 per month service charge. In "TiMER," Oona(Emma Caulfield, of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer"), an orthodontist, has a blank device. She drags Brian(Scott Holroyd), who she has been dating for a month, to an outlet to have one installed to see if they are a match but no luck. So, she goes back to the apartment she shares with her stepsister and best friend Steph(Michelle Borth, of the unremembered "the forgotten"), 5,192 days and counting, to watch nature programs. Bored, Oona returns to the supermarket to ask out the younger Mikey(John Patrick Amedori), 129 days and counting. Regardless, everybody is excited at their teenage brother Jesse(Hayden McFarland) to have his TiMER installed. It turns out he only has three days to wait. "TiMER" is a charming, intelligent and thought-provoking romantic comedy that uses a bit of science fiction(This is the present, not the near future. And it is a nice touch to differentiate between Oona's and the newer model.) to ironically ground its story in emotional realism as it satirizes the very notion of biological clocks.(Time pieces are visible throughout.) At the same time, the concept of one true love is explored. Personally, I would not want to know as I would much rather know when the next bus is going to show up. And the movie, with relatively modest means, explores how such a device would change everybody's lives and behavior, as perhaps spontaneity and romance would suffer. On the one hand, some might be depressed at the amount of time it takes while others might be relieved that there is somebody special out there for them. What would be interesting to see is that it might be somebody that they would not have otherwise given a second look, resulting in many more interracial relationships. However, there is always the option of being single and there is nothing wrong with this.

• Dannielle A

  
  This was an incredibly imaginative comedic fantasy, about a woman named Oona who is nearly 30 and hasn't yet found her true love. It's the future... and almost everyone has been implanted with a timer that ticks down to the exact moment that you meet your soul mate.… More
  This was an incredibly imaginative comedic fantasy, about a woman named Oona who is nearly 30 and hasn't yet found her true love. It's the future... and almost everyone has been implanted with a timer that ticks down to the exact moment that you meet your soul mate. Oona's timer is blank because her soul mate was never implanted with one. It's a philosophical movie that explores the timeless questions of old: Are there soul mates? Is there JUST ONE person for someone? What about death and remarriage? Should you wait and wait for "the one" even if it means waiting for a long time or fool around having one night stands along the way? Can two people make it work who aren't "soul mates" but who are "in love?" Oona goes through a journey of discovering whether or not she wants to know when she'll meet her soul mate or whether it should be a mystery. Along the way she meets a man who steals her heart. He doesn't have a timer. How will she know if they're meant to be? Meanwhile, her sister's timer says she has over five thousand days left and by then she'll be 43. She's tired of waiting and gets her timer removed, leaving love up to fate and not science. Oona's brother will meet his soul mate at the ripe age of 15 in just 3 days. Oona visits her father for answers of why her parents are no longer together. This is an extremely funny, well-written, superbly acted thinking movie. I totally called the ending from the beginning of the movie but my husband was shocked. (It usually goes the other way around.) All in all, a great movie if you don't mind lots of F-bombs. (Which I did think the movie could have done without.) SPOILER: This is what someone wrote about the end: "The problem with Timer is that you watch most of the film hoping that true love will overcome a piece of plastic and silicon attached to everyone's wrist, but in the end technology wins out. If there's a metaphor there about us right now I can't see it through the haze. We Shall Overcome has been replaced with Now Serving #47." My comment to this person was: I don't think the ending was saying that at all. I think the reason it was left open-ended (which is something I usually hate in movies) was to help the viewer make up his own mind of whether he believes love is fate or a choice. Maybe Oona can still make it work with Mikey or maybe she'll choose Dan, the man she was meant to be with. I also think it was saying that she COULD HAVE HAD Mikey if she would have trusted her own love for him and committed her life to him, but she chose to let a device chose for her, therefore ruining what could have been a beautiful relationship built on commitment rather than being with a person because that's what a piece of technology told her to do. I think it's a beautiful metaphor that can be applied perhaps in today's society and compared to matchmaking technology such as eHarmony making matches for you vs. finding someone in real life.

Read all 10 featured audience ratings