Time Code

Reviewed by:
Eric Alt

You know that picture-in-picture technology on some TVs that lets you watch two programs at the same time? Now imagine that same concept, only with four screens going at once and the action constantly intersecting and overlapping. (Our kind of fun: The cast of Friends is suddenly taken out by the Rams’ defensive line? What about V.I.P. getting overrun by a pack of crazed Discovery channel baboons?) Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) shot Time Code on four synchronized digital cameras, with the action unfolding in real time (93 minutes, exactly the amount of time a digital camera can shoot uninterrupted). With no editing, the story unfolds from nearly every conceivable point of view at the same time. As a film for study, it’s pretty damn fascinating. As entertainment, it sucks.

When the movie opens, there’s a moment of total sensory overload that eventually dissipates as your higher functions adjust to compensate. The true success of Time Code lies in how the sound highlights the action; pieces of the soundtrack rise and fall, pointing you toward important developments or dialogue in one corner of the screen. It’s a neat trick, and we found ourselves admiring the subtle sound cues rather than watching any given sequence, but this formula equates to a bucket-load o’ style with very little substance. The story itself is pretty old hat: L.A. types (clueless movie producers, drug-addled directors, lesbian actresses, and general eccentrics) converge in and around a studio during an earthquake-riddled day. The “caught on tape” style of shooting and mostly improvised dialogue lends the story a realistic feel—Holly Hunter practically blends into the scenery as a mousy studio exec, and she’s arguably the biggest star in the piece—but there’s not enough to sink your teeth into.

There are moments that work (Julian Sands’ masseuse is a great running gag, and you can’t complain about a Salma Hayek–Jeanne Tripplehorn make-out session) and moments that don’t (a zombie-like Saffron Burrows and an utterly ridiculous climax that ruins any realism the film had going for it). Ultimately, Time Code is an interesting experiment that will no doubt make many a snot-faced film student cream in his pants.

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