Wednesday, April 15, 2015

SFF Selections 2015: "Time Out Of Mind"

Time Out Of Mind * * ½


     Time Out Of Mind (Oscar-nominated writer/director Oren Moverman's third feature) doesn't tell a character's story, but instead simply watches one. The story Moverman observes isn't made up of a plot per say, but rather of little episodes that anyone could go out and see any day -which when strung together, form the chronology of a man's life. That man's name is George, and he is homeless. Observed through windows and reflections, in the midst of crowds and often not central to the camera's focus, George isn't even easily identified as primary through much of his onscreen placement during the film. As though apart of a moving game of "Where's Waldo?" played out on the tapestry of lives that is New York City: his conversations are obstructed by the sounds of others, pedestrians encroach on the audience's view of him, and the honks of horns and sirens of the city never cease to interrupt the words he speaks.