Real Time (2008)

Lack of good storyline.

good back-story, and good acting

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

not a movie for people who want to see special effects and visual wonderment! this is a movie for people that seek actors acting with a great script and dialog! don't expect fancy camera work but do expect to see two capable actors in demanding roles.when i first started this movie i was very put off by the antics of Baruchel and the weird mystery of Quaid. for sure i thought this was a down hill flick - i was very wrong. the deeper you get into the plot the more involved one becomes with the young boy and his one and one-half hours before meeting his fate.as other reviewers noted the accent of the Quaid character seems completely unnecessary and pointless. but after some thought maybe the accent is the key to the relationship between Andy and Reuben. it created a gap, a chasm, that must be there for Reuben to be believable as a man who is only nice to Andy to achieve his appointed mission.the sudden twist in the story did not come as a surprise but the realizing of it and the happening of it are almost simultaneous.catch this flick - it's something to remember!

Very curious movie. Several times I considered turning it off, but something kept me watching. I saw it on Netflix streaming movies.Randy Quaid is Reuban, we don't learn anything about his background but we do observe that he speaks with an Australian accent. He seems to work for a loan shark, as an enforcer. He makes sure debts get paid back.This day he is observing a ratty corner store where we see Jay Baruchel as Andy Hayes buying scratch-off lottery tickets and, once again, comes up empty handed. As he leaves the store Reuban drives up to intercept him. Seems that not only is Andy a bad, compulsive gambler, he has not gotten in debt to the tune of $68,000 and has no apparent way to pay it back. Reuban tells Andy that if he can't pay back the money by 3PM, he may not survive the day. So he asks Andy, where do you want to go, what do you want to see.Except for a small scene at his grandma's house, the movie is pretty much Reuban and Andy driving around, and talking. I enjoyed it at some level, both Quaid and Baruchel are excellent, but overall I can't give this movie a high rating or a recommendation.SPOILERS: At the end of the riding Reuban takes Andy to a secluded place, they get out of the car, Reuban pulls out a gun, tells Andy "this is it" and we hear a gunshot. Reuban has developed an incurable cancer, he shoots and kills himself, leaves an envelope titled "ANDY" and inside is a check for $68,000 so that Andy can get a fresh start. Was Reuban really Andy dad? We don't really know why Reuban has taken sympathy on Andy.

i watched this and OMG a great movie, a great ending. A sublime movie within a movie after you see it once and the ending you have to watch it again, the first time you see it tells you a whole new movie now that you know, you watch it again and see it from a different perspective.is a bit slow to start of and there is no action like most Hollywood dumps that are coming out, but if you want to see a great story this film will entertain you.Hollywood should do more like this VION- Virtual Internet Online Navagitor

Real Time, the second feature of writer/director Randall Cole (19 Months) made its Canadian debut at the Toronto International Film Festival after being the opening night feature at the Slamdance Festival earlier this year. Opening with a twitchy, expletive-laden, nervous tirade, Ottawa's Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Million Dollar Baby) gives the best performance of his young career as Andy Hayes; a doomed gambling addict bemoaning his constant bad luck. Pulling up alongside Andy in his big black Town Car is Aussie ex-pat Reuben played by Randy Quaid (The Last Detail, Brokeback Mountain) who gives another in a long career filled with excellent performances. Glancing up at Reuben's car, Andy quickly turns on his heel and walks in the opposite direction down the sidewalk to which Reuben calmly puts the car in reverse. Thus begins a hilarious pas-de-deux between man and car on a grey street in Hamilton. After a stern invitation, Andy reluctantly gets in the car where we discover that we will be spending much of the last hour and a half of his life with him. Quaid's Reuben quietly explains that he has been given the assignment of killing Andy, but will give him until 3pm to get his affairs in order. Thus our adventure begins, with director Cole cleverly echoing Hal Ashby's 'The Last Detail' in which Quaid takes on the Nicholson role of guiding his young charge in the last moments before an inevitable fate is to befall him. Both of these character actors are clearly relishing the freedom afforded them by having lead roles in this excellent comedic drama. Quaid's hit man is kind, thoughtful, and contemplative all the while simmering with potential violence, while occasionally flashing a glimpse of the goofy grin we first saw from him in Peter Bogdanovich's 'The Last Picture Show'. Baruchel brilliantly portrays the sadness all too common in people who choose not to engage beyond the perfunctory with the world at large. Even as events unfold in real time, there is a surreal timelessness evoked as we glide along dilapidated streets, with Reuben as our guide, while a radio station that will bring a smile to the lips of anyone who has a soft spot for 70s Can Con plays innocently along the way. With cats (both dead and alive), unspeakable acts on potato salad, a somewhat addled shut-in Grandma (national treasure, Jayne Eastwood) and horizontal urination, there are plenty of laughs throughout; despite the serious subject matter in Real Time. While the film is full of razor-sharp dialogue, writer/director Cole also allows us space, as we are driven through the beautifully shot ugliness of The Hammer's streets, in which Quaid & Baruchel draw us into their messed up worlds, to this point in time. This thoughtful film invites us to examine how we choose to spend our time, as Andy contemplates a life that has lead him deep into a thick woods with Reuben's gun at his back… This film will stay with you long after the credits roll. You will be glad you spent these 79 minutes in Real Time.