Project Almanac
Starring Jonny Weston, Virginia Gardner
Directed by Dean Israelite
If you can get past the shaky found-footage format and the inane dialogue, Project Almanac is actually quite the intelligent little film and a worthy addition to the time travel canon. After rummaging through his deceased dad’s possessions, a brilliant teen (Weston) stumbles across a time machine that his late father was constructing.
Being a science aficionado, he easily figures out what components are still needed and, with the help of his sister and two best friends, actually gets the device working. It’s just one of many convenient plot devices used throughout the movie but director Dean Israelite, after a rather extended setup, manages to keep Almanac engaging and hits some thematic notes effectively.
The movie’s meta-script references to films like Looper and Timecop add a refreshing element of cheekiness and once the kids start messing with the space-time continuum, the plot gets intriguing. After all, wouldn’t YOU try to win the lottery if you had the power to go back in time?
As stories in this genre go, things soon get dark once the past is altered and repercussions begin to materialize. The group quickly learns too many jumps back can drastically alter their present and the coherence becomes a little muddled.
The ride isn’t as fun by the end but still manages to be compelling. The usual time travel narrative problems arise and some are more head-scratching than others, but the team behind Project Almanac does craft a nifty mindbender that should appeal to young audiences.
