Primer (2004)

I initially thought Primer was a weak, mumbly mess that could have been much better written, edited, and acted. I had hoped for Enigma but got Office Space instead (so I said). However, given its $7K budget and my network and audio problems right before getting a new laptop, I decided to give Primer a second chance (and a third view). It is a fairly memorable story for being so low-key if intentionally cryptic. Primer is no Memento (which I have seen eight times) but it still holds my interest enough that I expect to figure it out. As for the story, two garage-startup engineers puzzle their way into inventing a time machine and agree to keep it secret -- yet all they do is pussyfoot around, unethically use themselves as test subjects, and scheme to do who knows what else. (Q. What kind of time machine requires you to sit in a crate in a storage locker for 10 hours at a crack? A. One that costs $7K in PVC pipe and grommets!) Layer on layer of temporal complexity is implied in the film's second half -- I just wish for exposition at least as clear as the muttered technogabble (which I get) in the film's first half. I hope the sepia, blue, and green tones in most scenes were intentional for artistic reasons and not just for the lack of UV, fluorescent, and other filters. Primer is on the whole memorable and impressive, esp. given its limited resources, but properly produced it could be so much more. It is like a cat burglar who had the entire museum to himself yet only lifted a box of Kit Kat bars from the gift shop. 2 stars up to 3 stars. (9-5-07 updated 9-7-08)