Retroactive (1997)

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Excellent, a Must See

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A nice little flick with an interesting premise, only marred by an obviously low budget which is spent on a couple of hefty explosions. In my mind, an original idea or two are much more important than the latest mega-expensive special effects in a film; I would take one speck of originality over some god-awful extravaganza like THE HAUNTING remake any day. Thankfully, RETROACTIVE has this originality, with a premise that plays like a mean-spirited variant on GROUNDHOG DAY (before you accuse it of being just a rip-off, just remember that the writers of THE X-FILES weren't opposed to using the idea for one of their episodes either). Although it descends into cheesy territory occasionally, with some dire effects in the time travel sequences, the central idea is sound and the film is thus consistently entertaining.The big twist here is that with GROUNDHOG DAY, Bill Murray had the repeated opportunity to gradually change his life for the better through the film. In this film, the actions of Karen, the heroine of the piece, just keep making things worse and worse. What starts out as a single homicide turns into a massive shootout which leaves bloodied victims everywhere, and eventually a whole family are killed when a petrol station explodes. As the death toll keeps rising, Karen must repeatedly transport herself back through time to try and prevent all this occurring. Of course, things become ever more complex, with even the murderer, Frank, going through the machine at one point to change history.The acting may not be particularly impressive in this film, but it is at least passable. Kylie Travis is the beautiful yet strong (both in the physical and mental sense) heroine, forever fighting for the good cause and trying to thwart our resident psycho in his tracks. This particular psychopath is played by James Belushi, better known for his mild-mannered turns in family fare like K9 and others. Belushi is therefore difficult to take seriously in his antagonistic role, yet physically he looks the part and he makes his southern drawl particularly irritating. His presence manages to be an imposing, if not nasty, one. Further down the cast, Shannon Whirry, better known for appearing in late-night Channel 5 erotica, plays Belushi's abused wife, and has quite a bad role: she's repeatedly killed, gets little dialogue, and no make up. Frank Whaley is amusing but far too young as the inventor of the time travel device, while M. Emmet Walsh puts in a frankly embarrassing cameo appearance.Okay, so there are plot holes galore, but this is the case with any film that focuses on time travel. The limited budget is stretched tight with some nicely spectacular explosions that wouldn't look out of place in a blockbuster, no doubt provided by the money left over from the re-use of the sets. There's a lot of violence and shooting, to keep action fans happy, and a good ending. This isn't a brilliant film by any means, but it's an interesting and fun one to watch. I would sum it up thus: brilliant story, middling execution.

Brian (Frank Whaley) is a lone scientist working on short term time travel back 20 minutes in a government super collider in Texas. Frank (James Belushi) is a petty criminal looking to sell stolen advanced computer chips. He's a loudmouth angry husband to Rayanne (Shannon Whirry). They pick up hitchhiker Karen (Kylie Travis). Frank kills Rayanne thinking she cheated on him. Karen escapes to the lab where she is accidentally sent back in time. Only things go much worst and she has to do it again.The story is way too convenient. It's action galore but it feels very manufactured. Part of that is the crazy cartoon character that Belushi is playing. If he could dial back the crazy, his character could actually be more intense. The idea is interesting but the execution is too wild.

This movie reminded me of the movie 12:01 which I reviewed before. It was basically Groundhog Day with a science fiction theme. A hostage negotiator with a glitch in her past is in the middle of nowhere (actually, a lost Texas road) when her car crashes and James Belushi and his wife pick her up. Belushi then murders the wife in front of her, and she makes her way to Frank Whaley, who plays a scientist who is conducting an experiment sending lab rats twenty minutes or so back in time. She then convinces him to use her as a "lab rat" to change the results, each time turning out differently. Belushi makes a nasty bad guy;don't expect to see him in his "According to Jim" role. Far from it. This was a tense movie with excellent performances and a combination of an expected and a surprise ending. I liked it, and you will too.*** out of ****

This is a 'small' film that's easy to dismiss based on its obvious faults. But those faults are entirely superficial, and if you can overlook them (not difficult), it has a great deal to offer.The clever thing here is the marriage of tight little Twilight Zone gimmick with a typical Die Hard action scenario. The heroine, a police negotiator fresh from a failed hostage crisis, finds herself endlessly re-living a calamitous twenty minutes out on a desert highway... trying desperately for a better outcome, yet somehow only making things worse and worse. The eventual conclusion is beautifully restrained, passing up all the usual Hollywood clichés and thereby making a surprisingly thoughtful statement about how sometimes you just can't make everything work out perfectly.The only real problem with the film is some slightly heavy-handed direction. Yes, yes, I know: the heroine absolutely should have picked up the gun instead of running. Several times. My guess is that the script specified that she had to run, and the director simply wasn't careful enough in placing the dropped weapon so as to make clear she couldn't possibly grab it instead. It happens in much bigger-budget movies than this. There's also the issue of Belushi's seeming indestructibility, but this I assume is deliberate. The situation is nightmarishly predestined, so it makes perfect sense that only those die who must die.Aside from these few moments, though, the direction is pretty sharp. The pace is unhurried yet relentless; armed confrontations are genuinely tense; and the various explosions are very gratifying. (Do cars *really* blow up like that? Who cares! Every genre has its conventions...) The story twists and turns delightfully; like the heroine, we often get just what we want, but rarely quite what we expect.Performances, by a cast of unknowns and second-stringers, are uniformly fine. But Jim Belushi, rarely thought of as Oscar material, is truly memorable as the bombastic Texas psychopath, both funny and frightening. This is easily the best work I've ever seen from him; it's hard to imagine anyone doing a better job in this role.No, Retroactive isn't perfect. But its strengths far outweigh its minor weaknesses. Perhaps with a bigger name attached to it, or more CGI effects, it would have been a blockbuster. As it is, the limited scale only increases its charm. This is that rarity, a thoughtful action film: exciting, amazing, amusing... and satisfying on every level.