Time Out of Mind

source: Time Out of Mind

So often I read another IMDb reviewers work and think "Wow I could not have said it better myself." The review on the main page really hits the nail on the head with Time Out of Mind. In the first paragraph he states that the film takes a lot of patience to get through and my gosh does it ever. If this had been any other film I would have given up because it is brutally slow, completely non-conventional, heavy handed and some would say (for a medium of entertainment) dull. And yet you feel compelled to continue through it because of the subject matter. The film is undeniably depressing and there really is no plot. He is trying to make amends with his daughter in some fashion but that is only one small flicker of plot in the film. The purpose of this film is to take a glimpse inside the life of someone who is homeless. The ups and downs, the emotional upheaval, the denial, the mental illness that begins to set in for whatever reason. We are given very little back story to our main character and yet you begin to piece little things together. The entire film is this man ambling around New York from one day to the next living his version of life and trying to figure out a way out. In some ways its compelling and in some ways it just doesn't strike the right chords to be really effective. My reason for watching the film was Richard Gere. He is and always has been one of my favourite actors. This is a very dark, depressing role for him and doesn't exactly give him the opportunity to floor you and yet in his subtly is where the performance is good. You completely believe him and the struggles and his denial and everything he has been through and yet you can't help but feel that he's done a lot of things to put himself into this position. He's an empathetic character but also one you sort of don't feel sorry for at times. I think he plays the role very realistically because of this. Its a subtle role. Jena Malone is really the only other "main" character and she only has a few scenes. She is decent enough in her role but there is no development because she is there just to serve a purpose. The supporting cast are recognizable faces from various other projects. Steve Buscemi, Danielle Brooks, Abigail Savage, Ben Vereen and Tonye Patano are some of the more notable appearances however brief some of them may be. I'm fascinated by Oren Moverman's work in this film. He wrote and directed the movie and I think he really put a lot of effort into this and really wanted to make it unique, possibly to a fault. He uses a lot of long wide angle shots but the purpose (I think) is to show the world around this man. There are so many times when you can hear or see a random event or person's conversation that has nothing to do with our main character but its simply happening around him. There has got to be a distinct message there and I'm not sure I know exactly what it is but its worth thinking about and any film that actually attempts to be something more than mindless entertainment deserves at least a nod in kudos. Most movie watchers will find this film excruciatingly slow but there is a message here and I think its morbid curiosity that makes us hang in there to see where it goes. There is a hint of redemption but a realistic view of homelessness. 6/10

This film tells the story of a homeless man, who is kicked out from over place after another. He finally finds himself in a homeless shelter, where he finds solace and attachment that inspires him to make changes to his life. The synopsis says the homeless man finds a homeless shelter, but that actually does not happen until thirty five minutes into the film. It takes another fifteen minutes until he meets his acquaintance in the shelter. This means the film has an unbelievably slow pace, and it bored me out of my mind. I do appreciate that the filmmakers making a film on homelessness, which is a unglamorous topic that is neglected by almost everyone. I guess it's not easy to make this plot entertaining, but at least it could have been interesting and engaging. However, the film is just too long, and not much happens in this film.

Review: After sleeping through the whole of the movie the first time, I attempted to watch the movie again but I still couldn't keep my eyes open. The film just seemed to drag from one scene to the next and as there isn't much dialogue or different characters, it just became really boring after a while. Richard Gere was the worse choice for this film because you just can't imagine him being in that position. I also didn't find watching someone wandering the streets, not saying a word to anyone, that entertaining, especially for a 2 hour movie. Don't get me wrong, the subject matter is touching and I can't imagine how it must be for a real homeless person but seriously, can you imagine the dashing silver fox ever being in that position. Also, the storyline isn't really explained properly, so you don't know how he got into that position or what has damaged his relationship with his daughter, who has completely disowned him. And why doesn't he have any friends or family at all? Basically the script is sketchy and it didn't portray a true homeless person and what they have to go through. Once the director found out that Richard Gere had come on board for this project, he should have given his script a rethink because it doesn't really go anywhere. Personally, I hated the way that Gere's daughter, Maggie (Jena Malone) treated her dad and the constant questions from the social security, who didn't seem to have any compassion about Gere's situation, just showed how messed up the benefit system is, in America. Anyway, I didn't really enjoy the film that much, and I found it very depressing. Disappointing! Round-Up: At 66 years old, Richard Gere is still as dashing as he was in American Gigolo in 1980 but his movies don't seem to blow up at the box office.  Everyone remembers him in An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982, the Cotton Club in 84 and of course, Pretty Woman in 1990 but he seems to pick his projects very carefully, and he doesn't always get them right. His role in this movie must have been very challenging for the well respected actor but I personally don't think it was the right choice, after starring in Arbitrage and the Double. Anyway, the movie was directed and written by Owen Moverman, who also directed the Messenger and Rampart with Woody Harrelson. The famous story about the woman who thought that Gere was really homeless, during filming, and she gave him some food, shows that there are still some people out there, who have got a heart but every time that Gere got money in the movie, he seemed to buy alcohol, so it's hard to be sympathetic. Also, 20 attendees walked out during the Toronto International screening of this film, so I'm not alone with thinking that it's really not that great. Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $170,000 I recommend this movie to people who are into their dramatic movies starring Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone, Steve Buscemi, Jeremy Strong, Michael Kenneth Williams and Kyra Sedgwick. 3/10

"I'm homeless. I'm nobody. I don't exist." George (Gere) is a homeless man struggling to survive in New York. Spending his days begging for food and money he is at the end of his rope. When he meets another man in the same position he finds a friend and someone that he can lean on for help. When he tries to reconnect with his daughter Maggie (Malone) everyone involved has to look at themselves and their past. This is a difficult movie to review. The movie itself is OK, very depressing but it keeps you watching even though nothing really happens. On the other hand I have never thought Richard Gere was that great of an actor, until this movie. This is a great character study of the real struggles a homeless person goes through. This is a very good movie, but not really one to watch for entertainment purposes. Overall, a very good, but very heavy and emotional movie that will affect you. I give this a B.

Films like this are hard to do. Usually they're preachy and full of schlock: they manipulate you, tell you how to feel. This one doesn't. I ordinarily wouldn't want to watch something so painful but, from the very first shot, the eye of the camera is so intelligent, it compels me to look in every quarter of each frame. The pacing is superb and shooting through the window, noise, the city: it's genius because it gives us just the right distance to see what we see every day directly in a protected way. Thereby it allows us to be engaged on our own terms without being threatened. This film is meticulously made. The performances are the best I've seen by each of the major players. I hate Richard Gere. I have never liked a movie or performance he was in. But this was an exceptionally deep and understanding portrait I didn't think him capable of. Seeing Ben Vereen was a treat. Haven't seen him in years. Annoying, well-meaning, comforting, strange, he functions a bit like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. But he stops shy of being like Klugman in "The Days of Wine and Roses," a great movie 'til it became a 12 step program advertisement. This film makes no such error. Vereen's character never says a thing I haven't heard or thought myself. It's a mystery why so few people love this. Some people thought it too slow, not action-paced. They know what they like, I guess, and this wasn't it. How to tackle a film on homelessness. I didn't think it could be done. I was wrong.

After my first encounter with Oren Moverman's direction style with his stunning debut The Messenger, it's very surprising that he dialled back and made a subdued film like Time Out Of Mind for his third feature. I've yet to see the infamous Rampart, but I'm a fan of his other writing work for unconventional musician biopics with I'm Not There and this year's Love & Mercy. Bringing in one of the many Dylans of the former, Richard Gere, he's presenting one of his most restrained works, almost to a fault. It's very loose and aimless, but as a portrait of homelessness, it can be quite apt, however that only goes so far. While The Messenger is very intimate and in-your-face at times, this is deliberately disconnected with the frequently impressive photography selecting angles of Gere from several feet back and behind glass. At once it shows a world that reflects how we distance ourselves from the homeless and how it's such a volatile place where anything can come around the corner and harm them. It improves as the plot gently thickens as Gere's George Hammond tracks down his daughter and makes attempts to find sources of staying afloat. He's a more passive protagonist than you'd expect, one beaten down by offscreen years of apparent exhausting failure, but his eventual effort to get back somewhat on his feet is a minor catharsis. If George was more developed it could have been one of Gere's finest performances, but he at least feels very lived-in. He's sympathetic, but anytime he opens his mouth it gives us more reason not to like him and understanding of why he's there. It usually comes from a brutally honest place. Also that casting of Gere gives a thorough implication that the homeless can be anyone, as does the inclusion of Ben Vereen. If anything, it shows how hard it is to get back on the system if you step off it. But while it's a loose yet controlled film, the problem is its ambiguity and its simplicity. A lot of the themes you immediately skim off feel a little obvious and undercooked for such a disconnected package. It could've been more complex, but maybe it is and it's too cryptic to pick up on what Moverman is trying to do. Still, Time Out Of Mind is quite good work from everyone, including Jena Malone, and it definitely doesn't deserve the critical lashing it received at festivals. It's certainly engrossing, if not completely satisfying. 7/10

People who rated this movie higher than 1 clearly never had to deal with people with mental illness. What was the moral of the story?, proof that our system is screwed up? Sad fact is that unless you have Federal and State governments, and the Judicial system working together to commit the mentally ill to mental institutions, people who cannot or will not (i.e.) refuse to seek treatment and follow their doctor's advice homelessness will continue the same holds true for those with chemical dependency and self medicating mentally ill. My former and now deceased fiancé suffered from the symptoms of Bipolar Depression and PTSD, I met her back in late 2013 when she lived in the apartment right below mine, she immediately told me about her mental illnesses, she failed to tell me that the symptoms were far from under control. My mentally ill former fiancé self medicated, she drank liquor that intensified the symptoms of her Bipolar Depressionand she smoke Marijuana, since the primary symptom of PTSD is Paranoid Schizophrenia the THC intensified her paranoia. My mentally ill former, and now deceased fiancé tried committing suicide overdosing on Lithium kicked in my apt. door, wrecking door and door frame, spent 7-9 days at county mental hospital, was evicted from the apt. complex I still reside at. A year later my former and now deceased fiancé, 9 mos. earlier we both mutually agreed that due to her illness she was unable to maintain a serious relationship with any man, as I was saying she attempted suicide a 2nd time, this time she tried by overdosing on Latuda and Lamictal, I was not present at the time, yes she was institutionalized for a time, but unaware of how long. October 10, 2015, 7 mos. from her 2nd attempt at her 2nd attempt at committing suicide, she was living with a couple who knew what her mental issues were, the man in the relationship has mental issues of his own, as I was saying he had a loaded handgun laying around which she found, shot herself in the head killing herself. My former fiancé was only 41 yrs. old, if the court system had had her committed to an institution where she was under 24/7 supervision and forced to take medication to treat her symptoms she would still be with me. I learned absolutely nothing enlightening from this movie.

Director Oren Moverman never wants us to get close to the subjects in Time out of mind. He shoots the film from a distance so we feel like voyeurs eavesdropping in some half finished conversation. We follow George Hammond (Richard Gere) a disorientated homeless man with no id, papers or money. We know little about him, how he got to this predicament. As the film goes on we realise he can be badly behaved, peeing on the street, he likes to drink and he wants to obtain his birth certificate. He also has a daughter that he wants to get close to but gauging from her reaction, she hates him. Nothing much happens as George wanders around New York, looking for places to sleep, keep warm, getting something to drink and beg for money. George tries to get a place in a homeless shelter and has to go through tons of questions as various officials assess him. His memory seems hazy and he befriends another homeless man, the motor mouthed Dixon (Ben Vereen) who helps him to survive the streets and helps him get social security. We get a committed performance from Richard Gere but the film is a borefest. There is no narrative and no story. A docudrama with no purpose apart from being a slice of life look at the plight of the homeless.

A thoughtful, deeply moving study of homelessness in urban America, specifically, what it's like to be homeless in New York City. "Time Out of Mind" is a maddening film. It fits none of the expected narrative templates that we've come to expect from a mainstream movie, and because of its seemingly pointless, aimless plot - nothing that matters of any consequence happens to anyone, and the main character, George, appears dazed, lost in every sense of the word - I gave up on it...then decided to keep watching. I finished the movie and felt I had seen something profound, profoundly disturbing about the indifference we show those at the margins, the "failures". It's not an easy film to watch. I think that's the point. This is a subject that we all would prefer to turn away from. When homeless, nobody cares. Virginia Woolf said this about Charles Dickens, "We remodel our psychological geography when we read Dickens; we forget that we have ever felt the delights of solitude or observed with wonder the intricate emotions of our friends, or luxuriated in the beauty of nature." This film has re-shaped my "psychological geography" when it comes to NYC. Maybe Woody Allen heard Gershwin while wandering Manhattan. I now hear the distracting noise - the intrusive cellphones, the traffic, all of it - a fierce onslaught that can't be kept at bay. The sound design is relentless and off-putting. And it's true to life. I've been visiting NYC for years, I was there in December. It has never been louder or more annoying. So for George, cursed to live on the street, there is no peace and quiet. Ever. The performances are brilliant, all of them. Gere and Kyra Sedgwick are mesmerizing. And top honors should go to Oren Moverman. What an artist. He wrote another movie this year about the fragility of the mind, about the losing of one's mind, "Love & Mercy". Two fantastic, soul-exploring movies in one year by Oren Moverman. A remarkable achievement.