Project Almanac (6/9/2015)

Rated PG-13 for some language and sexual content.

Starring Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Allen Evangelista, Ginny Gardner and Sam Lerner

Directed by Dean Israelite

Another teenage time travel film.

From producer Michael Bay comes the action-packed thrill ride starring Jonny Weston (Divergent Series: Insurgent). When a brilliant high school student and his friends discover blueprints for a machine that can send them back in time, the possibilities seem endless. They rewrite history to win the lottery, ace exams, and party like there’s no tomorrow. But by changing the past, they have threatened the future of our world. Can they undo the damage they have unleashed before it’s too late?

I’m a product of the 80’s and one of my favorite films growing up was Back To The Future. It caused my generation to light-heartedly ask the “what would I change about the past” question. It was also the first film that warned audiences of the dangers of messing with the timeline. Project Almanac does a lot of the same things, just uses a more serious tone…and there is no Delorean.

But young director, Dean Israelite, doesn’t need a Delorean. In fact he uses no “machine” at all – an interesting choice, but one that works. He also keeps things moving – developing characters and the whole “science” behind time travel all without bogging the film down.

There were a few predictable elements of the film, but overall it kept my interest from beginning to twisted ending.

The fresh young cast whom each play a pivotal role in the film are all believable and almost immediately likeable. I think younger audiences will connect and relate to them. That however may be a concern.

Because there were two pretty big complaints I had with the film. One, it highlighted what we call irresponsible behavior. Once the students learn how to time travel, they use it to engage in everything from sex and drugs to cheating and revenge. They create a moral paradox that allows them to “fix” the past while “living in the now.”

The second complaint was the shaky hand held camera style. Can we agree that this has been done and we can now stop making films where we are forced to pretend at least one character is always filming no matter what is happening?

The film was more entertaining than I thought, but I’m still not going to score it higher than a “Rental.”

SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
Although there is no sex or nudity shown, the main characters are teens and they often talk about sex. There is a scene that shows a teen girl and teen boy lying in bed, supposedly after sex.

The violence and profanity are also on the mild side for PG-13 films.

CONVERSATION STARTER:

1. When the teens discover they have created a time machine, what are some of the things they want to see?


2. What would you what to see?


3. Why did they really travel back in time?


4. What regrets do you have?

Read Philippians 3:12-14

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.


5. What does this verse tell us about past regrets?


6. What can you do this week to forget the past and press on to what lies ahead?