Primer

An imaginative debut from precocious writer-director-star Shane Carruth, the Sundance award-winning Primer is a tricky time-travel tale about two engineers who invent a device that controls temporal conditions in the short term, allowing them to return to the past and profit from dabbling in the stock market. But the picture is too tricky to be entirely comprehensible, and not only because of the intricate plot--which involves the duo's careful maneuvers to avoid creating a rift in the time-space continuum by bumping into their doubles (or triples)--but also because Carruth rejoices in fractured chronology, lots of jargon, overlapping dialogue, and visual disorientation. Stylistically this is all very effective: Primer has a distinctive look--not beautiful, perhaps, but certainly striking--that is remarkable for a movie made for under $10,000. From a narrative perspective, however, the story is very difficult to follow and the twists and turns remain obstinately obscure, so that while admiring the images you're also likely to be baffled by what precisely is going on (though you'll get the general thrust). In short, Primer will frustrate many viewers, but it's an arresting experiment, and one that will appeal to cinema buffs who also enjoy a cerebral workout. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Shane Carruth; the other by Carruth, and costars Anand Upadhyaya and David Sullivan, among others), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a quirky indie film.] (F. Swietek)