Suspension (2008)

I watched this movie because I am interested in the concept of stopping time but unfortunately, the only other movie I know of exploring this concept is cashback. Wanting to see something with actors who had an American accent however, I picked up this movie to watch. When finished, I found myself saying "Meh, could have been better." Still, I wanted to see what others thought of the movie and jumped onto IMDb and having disagreed with their reviews, I found myself writing this one.So, if you're on the fence about whether or not watch this film, I would say it has a few plot problems, actors were good and believable but could have been better, and the overall movie was emotional and very slow moving. I would also tell you that you won't want to watch it more than once and you won't want to watch this if you want things explained or want a fairy tale ending (despite it's somewhat sci-fi-esque premise).Personally, I didn't set any expectations before watching the film and to me, the movie was slow. Though it was done purposely to convey a message and to accentuate the general tone of the movie, I would argue that there were just too many occasions that I thought, "Come on... hurry up." I know it was just trying to communicate the same message in different ways (probably on the notion that different viewers would receive the same message best in a different way) but I got restless at times.Speaking of communication, the plot is not spoon-fed to you and you will be guessing from time to time with hit-or-miss results. In some places it is a good thing because you think "Oooo... I wonder what they'll do next!" You might get disappointed with the result though... Otherwise, there are a few plot holes that go unexplained. It's fine but at some point, you just need (or want) a little bit more.Which brings me to my next critique, the acting. The actors were likable and for the first 80% of the movie and you really sympathize with the main protagonists but you just wanted to continue liking them and believing them that little 20% more. Don't get me wrong, they were believable and well-developed. Tragedy, loss... it's not unusual for the characters to have done what they did and coped in the way that they did. What I am trying to say though is that your perceptions of the characters will probably change however, but another possibility is that you will disregard their actions that do not fall in line with your preexisting bias. If you read some of the other reviews this comes out pretty clearly. Regardless of your opinion, there will be scenes where the actors slip or just do something that takes you out of the magic and ambiance of the movie entirely.Overall, I would say the movie was good. You won't want to watch it more than once, but not watching it might be a mistake. It will not be raunchy or perverse or action-packed like what you may expect but bear in mind it's a movie that explores the "Hey, what if..." concept in reality. So will you like this movie? If you don't like movies without fairy tale endings, probably not. Even if you like movies that allow you to think for yourself though, I believe you will finish this movie still craving something more.

***SPOILERS*** Film about time suspension involving this magical camcorder that can freeze time at the click of it's pause button. How this camcorder got these amazing powers is never really explained it only seemed to have gotten them when it and it's owner Daniel Bennett, Scott Cordes, survived a fatal traffic accident that cost the lives of three people. Daniel's wife teenage son and the driver of the pick-up truck that caused , by running a stop sign, the accident!As things turned out time stopped when Daniel accidentally pressed the pause button on his camcorder just at the moment of impact which in effect saved his life before he was to go head first through the car's windshield. It wasn't until later after repairing the damaged camcorder that Daniel started to realize the amazing power that it possessed. The one thing that Daniel really wanted to possess and soon became obsessed with was the pick-up tucks dead driver's wife Sarah Kane, Annie Tedesco, who's picture just happened to be on her husbands cellphone the moment that he ran head first into Daniel's car! In fact it was Mr. Kane's call to Sarah that distracted him from keeping his eyes on the road and lead to he fatal car smash-up!Daniel at first is very kind and helpful to Sarah in dropping a law suite against her dead husband's estate in him causing the accident that save her home from being foreclosed in paying the lawsuit off. It's only later when Daniel started to get the hots for the very pretty 7th grade school teacher Sarah that things started to go downhill for him and everybody else who had anything to do with her especially Sarah's boyfriend fellow elementary school teacher Josh Werlitt. As his obsession for Sarah grew worse Daniel started to use his camcorder to freeze her in time and then take advantage of her while she was stuck in suspended animation. Daniel also took the time to get even with Josh whom he felt was a threat to his relationship, strange as it was, to Sarah by freezing him in place with his magic camcorder and then pummeling him to the point that when he was unfrozen, at the click of the camcorders pause button, he died from massive internal bleeding!In his spear time when he wasn't stalking Sarah Daniel spent his idle hours freezing time so he could pick pocket and rob people of their cash, while being frozen stiff, to pay off his bills. The very sexually charged up, in him knowing he can get away with it, Daniel also spend endless hours in womens clothing department stores changing booths watching young and busty women change and try on womens undergarments. That while at the same time he was stealing expensive clothes for Sarah who with the little money she made as a grade school teacher could hardly afford!***SPOILERS*** Daniel's strange obsession with Sarah started to get out of hand when he used his power of stopping time to try to get romantic with her that she, as a women being abused, frozen in time or not could easily sense! It's when Daniel, by now crazed with lust, tried to really get it on with Sarah that she turned the tables, or the pause button, on him. In fact it was Daniel not Sarah who in the end did himself in by realizing that his little gizmo's, the magical camcorder, actions had caused far more trouble then it was worth that he himself let it, by not trying to get out of the way of a runway wheelchair, finish him off and end all this misery once and for all times.

I gave this movie an extra star simply for having the guts to avoid any simple explanation of why (or if) a camcorder can stop time. As some other reviewers have pointed out, the camcorder is not really critical to the plot, except in the way that it reflects the yearning and distress of the lead character. My own guess is...no, it didn't stop time. It wouldn't make a substantial difference if it actually did.Unlike some reviewers, I did not find this film to be at all boring, or even slow-paced. It progresses with its own rhythm based on the process of grieving.I also found a lot of reasons to be sympathetic to the two survivors. (I'm about the same age as the main character and I lost my wife two years ago.) The portrayal of the depth of his loss, and the loss of a sense of direction and purpose is accurate. (I simply had to move out of our house after my wife died. I didn't move to an abandoned hospital, but I do understand how that could make perfect sense to someone.) The FX are quite good, though not anything groundbreaking. A couple scenes, particularly ones with the tennis balls, are not very good, but they are acceptable in an indie flick like this.Overall, I enjoyed it. The filmmakers exhibited a lot of restraint and left much unsaid.

Okay, so I watched this just to watching something non-big studio and I can enjoy it for that...however, I just kept getting knocked back by the inconsistent logic of the script and the blatant abuse of physics in regards to both DV cameras and batteries....worse than Cloverfield.... It was shot well, the acting was fine, the sound was good, the score was good...all those elements, all those variables were in place....but there was no "why" to the equation of why the hero was acting the way he was acting.... 1. he loses his family 2. he starts obsessing on the other girl involved in the accident 3. he kidnaps her as part of his obsession....okay, so he lost his family and substitutes this girl for the family he lost, fortunately, she is cute and perky, not gross looking, so we as an audience can understand his behavior, although it's slack casting to create a girl that ANYONE would start liking if they lost the rest of their family..no challenge thereBut the continued plot device of the camera switching out of pause mode...okay, we get it, why doesn't he? Why not take more than two batteries...take ten...and man, that guy left finger prints everywhere....I get the story, he loses it after his family dies and needs a "new family"...but he does it in a creepy way of stalking the girl....and it had to be THAT girl because she was the one involved in the accident.... However, if all he wanted was to be around her, why push it any further? He could have lived out his days hanging out with herDoI recommend it? Yeah, it has a lot of good qualities...just not enough energy.....a good thing to learn never to do is have people talk on the phone for a long time....just no reason to and it slows down the film....Would I watch another film by these filmmakers? Absolutely