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Film
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Stealing Time
Jennifer Garner and former boyfriend Scott Foley are reunited in the directorial debut of a one-time personal assistant to Steven Spielberg.
Sunday, October 5, 2003
By Annlee Ellingson
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With a cast of exciting up-and-comers and an appearance by Jennifer Garner, Stealing Time has all the earmarks of film cleverly packaged to take advantage of the rising popularity of its actors. However, it turns out Stealing Time dates back to 2001, when a shorter version made the rounds on the film festival circuit under the name Rennie’s Landing.
Thus, we are now presented with the opportunity to view a film made before the cast went on to do more high-profile work: Peter Facinelli has since starred in TV's Fastlane and The Scorpion King; Ethan Embry stole every scene he was in Sweet Home Alabama and was subsequently cast opposite Ed O'Neill in TV's Dragnet; Scott Foley has parlayed his stint on TV's Felicity into his own series, A.U.S.A.; Charlotte Ayanna has gone on to co-star in Training Day and Love the Hard Way ; and, finally, Garner's hit ABC TV show Alias was still months away from its September 2001 debut.
But perhaps what is most intriguing about Stealing Time is the fact that after being made initially by Magellan Filmed Entertainment and never released, the film has been picked up for distribution by Franchise Pictures, the current shingle of colorful Lebanese producer Elie Samaha. In the past, Samaha has been known for helping A-list celebrities usher personal pet projects to the screen, such as John Travolta’s Battleship Earth and Sylvester Stallone’s Driven and Get Carter. While Stealing Time certainly belongs to a different pedigree than some of Samaha’s other more recent credits, such as The In-Laws and Alex & Emma, it seems unfortunately destined to be one of those not-so-great indies in the respective filmographies of its actors, reflecting a time when they were desperate to get work of any kind.
Facinelli, Embry, Foley and Ayanna play college buddies who reunite a year after graduation when their bright futures have dimmed. Alec (Facinelli) is barely grinding out an existence as an assistant to an abrasive Hollywood agent while trying to parlay a friend's script into a producing gig. His roommate, aspiring actor Trevor (Embry), has walked off the set of his most recent production assistant gig as he shuffles from audition to audition.
Meanwhile, rather than travel to Mexico to pursue her dream of working in social services, Sam (Ayanna) is serving up margaritas at a Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City, supporting her ungrateful boyfriend as he continues his studies. Casey (Foley) picks her up on his way to Los Angeles, where he has personal business from before they all met.
Soon after they all settle into Alec and Trevor's rather spacious (natch) Los Angeles apartment to engage in mildly raunchy discussions about how many times they masturbate and philosophical debates about taking control of one's life, Alec receives some life-changing news of his own, which forever alters his views of the latter topic.
He keeps the information to himself, however, leaving his friends in a quandary about his
increasingly erratic behavior, such as holding up a liquor store with goofy glasses and a plastic gun after plucking those items from a novelty rack. Alec’s friends are utterly unprepared for his proposal that they rob a bank, which, he argues, is the only way they can gain the financial freedom to live their lives the way they want.
It's here that the script by helmer Marc Fusco and co-writer Michael Garrity falls apart. The audience knows why Alec's up for the heist: He has nothing to lose. But the other three have no motivation to take such a risk.
Trevor doesn't seem particularly unhappy eking out a living, until Alec asks him why it is he thinks no one's hiring him, while Casey has finally contacted his ex and the mother of his now-dead son. After all this time, Casey is ready to be a father, but there's obviously not much he can do about it now. And when Sam, who has been working with asylum seekers, needs money to finance legal council for a particular client and her child, Alec cleans out his savings and writes her a check. Besides, how's she going to help them if she has to clear out of town for three months?
Perhaps she feels she owes Alec for his generosity. There is a twist ending that brings some disparate elements into clearer focus, including the rare sight of rednecks in Los Angeles. But it does nothing to alleviate the inevitable feeling that the penultimate heist with its funny costumes isn't all that novel, the mistake that gives them away is too obvious, and that the personality of Alec is that of a self-involved jerk who perhaps has even set his friends up to take the fall.
Perhaps the filmmakers, through devices such as a persistent visual theme of reflection, were trying to say something profound about taking control of one's life even as it slips away. Indeed, the film is peppered throughout with every profound thought ever
uttered by a college student or young adult experiencing the real world for the first time.
But what kids that age, or perhaps filmmakers themselves, would not immediately realize that these ideas are not new, original or particularly revelatory? Yes, if you could rob a bank and get away with it, life would be much easier. But as far as allowing this movie steal several hours of your time, proceed with caution.
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