Timer (DVD Review)

19 Jun, 2010 By: Alexandra Hammarth

Street 6/22/10
Phase 4
Comedy
$29.99 DVD
Rated ‘R’ for language.
Stars Emma Caulfield, John Patrick Amedori, Desmond Harrington, JoBeth Williams.

Finding love isn’t always easy, or is it? For Oona (Emma Caulfield of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), she certainly hopes it will be, although she needs a guarantee. In comes the Timer, an electronic device placed on humans to detect the exact moment when they are expected to meet their soul mate. Much like society, Oona has conformed and lived her life according to the day she will someday meet The One.

The only problem is that her Timer is blank, meaning that her soul mate hasn’t yet installed a Timer. And while everyone (even her 14-year-old brother) seems to be getting lucky, Oona turns her countless efforts trying to court men into getting a Timer, turning her love life into an endless process of elimination — until she meets Mikey.

Mikey (John Patrick Amedori) is a younger, laid-back musician working at the local supermarket. In one of her attempts to meet The One, she spends more time with Mikey, only to learn that his Timer predicts that he meets his true love in four months. Even though their fate is dictated to end, Oona falls for him anyway, causing the future series of events to turn in all sorts of directions.

What’s interesting about Timer is how people view love through the ultimate argument of knowing versus not knowing. While Oona’s remarried mother considers it a gift from the technology gods, her sarcastic best friend/stepsister Steph (Michelle Borth) could say otherwise. Steph knows she isn’t expected to meet her soul mate for decades, and knowing that has her swinging from fling to fling.

Still, it’s amusing to see how the Timer complicates each one of their lives. With some quirky cast members, witty banter and a huge dose of love’s reality, Timer manages to find a perfect balance between romance and comedy.

Extras on the DVD include some behind-the-scenes featurettes as well as deleted scenes, bloopers, and commentary by director Jac Schaeffer.