Film Reviews

Timeline

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Anna Friel
• Details: US / 111 mins / (15PG).

Somebody rather important in Hollywood must really like Paul Walker ('2 Fast 2 Furious'). An actor so limited in his delivery that he makes Keanu Reeves appear almost cultured in comparison; Walker's latest assault on good taste is the facial and extremely laboured time travel action adventure, 'Timeline'. Based on the Michael Crichton novel, the film follows a group of archaeological students, headed by the brash Chris Johnston (Walker), who learn that their professor and Chris' old man (Connolly) has somehow been trapped in 14th Century France. Before you can say 'realism', the gang (who include Frances O'Connor and Gerald Butler) have been whisked off to a top secret base where they learn all about time travel. To cut a long and idiotic story short, they are sent off to save the old academic, but they've only got eight hours or bad things will happen. Oh dear.
With a premise as loosely foolish as this, 'Timeline' does threaten to transcend the parameters of taste and enter the pantheons of the so-bad-it's-good club. However eagerly it flirts with the tag, the blocky storyline, turgid dialogue and the intensely annoying performances from the leads - Walker is a walking definition of ineptitude, O'Connor is intensely grating and Friel still appears to be acting in an episode of 'Brookside' - means that 'Timeline' is a waste of time, energy and a rather large special effects budget. Even the Big Yin can't save this one.

Review by Garreth Murphy