Hubbs recently rented the movie “Timer”. It had all the squishy romance stuff he likes, plus a little Speculative Fiction twist to make me happy.
The premise is that an invention has hit the world where on your 14th birthday, you have the option of having a device implanted in your wrist that will “Count Down” to the day when you will meet your soul mate.
Very Neat Plot Device. I was interested.
The story is cute and sweet as a woman in her thirties living with sister both date and wait for their timers to start “ticking”.
Despite the sound problems in the move, which had my husband and I asking “what did he say” – we really enjoyed the first 99% of the movie. It was well done, and a great twist at the end that had us both saying “No Way!”
**So why did it fail?**
Stories need closure. Without closure, there really is no story, is there? It’s like being forced to read a book, but not getting the final chapter. It’s annoying.
As the camera zooms away from our protagonist, and the music starts to get louder, I was happy to hear my husband say “They are NOT going to end it there, are they?”
Yep sweetie, apparently they are. I was glad that he was as miffed as I was. Here lies the problem:
***Spoiler alert from here until the next bold.***
Stop reading now if you don’t want to know the end of the movie…
During the move, both sisters fall in love. Our main character falls in love with a much younger man in a rock band, and gives his CD to her estranged father, a record promoter.
Problem #1: Why even have her do this if you are never going back to this plot line. We don’t know if he signed them, or if he hated them. They make a big deal of it, and it is never mentioned again – NO CLOSURE
Problem #2: The MC’s timer goes off at her birthday party, while she is looking at her sister’s boyfriend. His timer goes off too. – Her sister is very upset. She’s heartbroken. I can’t blame her. We never see the sisters or the boyfriend really reconcile, and the sister, who we’ve grown to love, is left unhappy. – NO CLOSURE
Problem #3: We watched the MC fall in love with the musician. They are better people when they are together. We LOVE them together. Despite their differences, we are rooting for them.– He is left crying, saying the MC broke his heart (We don’t even know if he got a recording contract out of it) – NO CLOSURE
Problem #4: We don’t even know if the MC and her soul mate get together. It’s left open. No closure in a big and unforgivable way for me.
Nothing is sewn up. I’m even left HATING the MC because she left the man she loves for someone she doesn’t know, leaving him distraught and crying… and also, in my opinion, stabbing her sister/best friend in the back by considering a relationship with her boyfriend, and not even seeming upset by all of this.
***End spoiler alert***
It was really frustrating for me. The only good thing about this is it’s making me comb through my novel and make sure I tie up EVERY loose end. As a creative artist, I don’t want anyone feeling this way about my work.
Great premise. Great story. Great execution. Poor attempt at a surprise ending.
Bummer.
Jennifer M Eaton 