Repeaters (2011)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent but underrated film

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.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Three delinquents experience the same day over and over again. So what do they do? Not much, really. The key is "Carston! Seven thirty." And so we go again. But from this enjoyable concept nothing clever or insightful ensues, and we end up with a midwestern family values story. Just like that other movie, but without Bill Murray's delightful cynicism.What would it be like to live without consequences for your actions? A bit dull, mostly miserable, do the same. So, not much different from real life, which technically makes this a documentary.This really needed some perverse behaviour from the characters, however foul according to the taste of the intended audience. Without the perversity it simply failed to explore the concept. The good guys were good, the bad guy was bad. Completely dull.Pace, direction, editing all excellent, but concept cooked as flat as a pancake. I did like the actress with her slopey nose and woolly hat.

Yes, it is impossible to talk about Repeaters without mentioning Groundhog Day - a charming family film where a sardonic Bill Murray has to relive the same dull day again and again until he can find a way of somehow - literally - moving his life forwards.Groundhog Day was a happy-go-lucky sort of affair, filled with light-hearted 'what if' scenarios. Here, in 'Repeaters,' we're presented with a similar premise, i.e. what happens if you're stuck in a day. However, the results are far from Groundhog-like.This time there are three central characters who keep reliving the same day and they're all in a recovery centre, trying to get over various addictions. Then, once they discover their new 'power,' they hardly use it to help the homeless. Therefore we're treated to what people with very dubious morals would do if their day had absolutely no consequences whatsoever.It's a great film. The performances are perfect from all characters, the setting it suitably gritty and it's not too long. However, it's not one for the faint-hearted. It covers pretty much all the nastiest adult themes you can think of, so, if you're looking for a 'feel-good' kind of movie, you better steer clear.Bottom line: Groundhog Day + comedy = Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day + action = Source Code, whereas Groundhog Day and nastiness = Repeaters. Not one for everyone, but if you're looking for some gritty sci-fi/thriller, definitely give this one a go.

At the time of this writing, IMDb rating for Repeaters was only 5.8.Last week, a good friend of mine recommended this movie to me, and even though we do not always agree on what is a good movie, I watched it, and I am very glad that I did. This movie explores one of the most intriguing premises: what if today was to repeat itself indefinitely, and you had the freedom to do what you want and remember everything you did and what happened, every time the day repeated itself? What would you do? This is the privilege, or the curse, that befell on three drug addicts in a rehabilitation center. It is a privilege if you can learn what you did wrong and use that knowledge to improve the events of this day. But it can be a curse if you see it as a damn trap out of which there is no escape. The story unravels at a nice steady pace, and things are quickly evolving toward some pretty dramatic situations. The performance of the actors was decent enough, and the director should get recognized for putting together a very logical sequence of events despite the complexity of the story. I am pointing this out because I noticed how often some movies add confusion just for the sake of being creative. Although I generally appreciate the effort, sometimes it's just better to keep things simple so as to get the story across effectively and memorably. And this is particularly important when the story includes many very interesting ideas such as the duration of the time loop, what if it's infinite, what happens if it ends, how will you know, death and time, does what you do have any effect on the "real" time line, and, come to think of it, which one is the "real" time line. Then, when you have all the details of such a story straight and clear in your mind, it's so much easier to mull over them later, as I did, and still do.

What would you do if you had a chance to relive just one day over and over? Try to change your destiny? Change the world? Change your life? In a 24 hour rewind you wouldn't think that there would be a huge opportunity to change very much. Three "twenty-somethings" find out just how life changing a repeated second chance is in this brilliant little film from Canada.Written by Arne Olsen (Relic Hunter, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie) and directed by Carl Bessai (Severed, Normal) Repeaters is the story of three inmates of a drug rehabilitation centre in Mission City. Kyle Halstead (Dustin Milligan), Sonia Logan (Amanda Crew) and Michael Weeks (Richard De Clerk) all hang out together and one event filled day they become caught in a time warp that results in them re-living that day repeatedly.The combination of great story-line and great performances by the lead actors made this spontaneous purchase of an 8 pound DVD turn into a real gem of a film.The publicity/marketing for the film states that the film is like Taken meets Groundhog Day. Now that sounds good, but in my humble opinion the film is more like Groundhog Day meets Flatliners.My only real problem with the film was the lead actors resemblance's to other actors and (in one case) to one of my first cousins. The most obvious one was Amanda Crew who looked so much like Jennifer Love Hewitt that I kept wondering how she'd managed to look so young. Obviously the film makers saw this resemblance as they never lost an opportunity to put a knit hat on her head that enhanced the likeness.Still, resemblances aside, the actors did a magnificent job in the film. The three of them interacted with each other and other characters in the film, brilliantly.The best thing about the film, was their evolving feelings about the repetitious day. Denial, acceptance, enjoyment, disillusionment. and realisation. Unfortunately, the two male characters had more of a story arch than the female lead, but despite the slight annoyance of this fact the film still delivered a pretty impressive punch.There is not a whole lot of information available on this 2010 Canadian independent film, but they do still have a website: Repeaters.If you get a chance, check this film out. This is the third Canadian film to completely blow me away and it's left me with a growing admiration for my "first cousins" and their creative ability.A real 5 star film about a supernatural event that will blow you away.