Review of Project Almanac (2015) by João P — 02 Jun 2015

Clichéd and with highly improbable story, Project Almanac is so much stuffed with references to past time travel and found-footage movies that it faces serious difficulties when it tries to be at least partially original and to avoid being one of the flicks that are totally forgotten one month after seeing it. Even though it cannot avoid this fate, this is a surprisingly fresh delivery that benefits from its young and likeable cast, good pacing and the fact that the story never aims of being too big or too serious. Decently entertaining to both adults and young adolescents, this is a passable home cinema teen flick.

David (Jonny Weston) is a brilliant high-school student who aspires to enter the prestigious MIT. When he does not receive the scholarship he was hoping for, he tries to find comfort in an old video tape from his seventh birthday. After several views David spots something strange and unique, something deeply disturbing that brings him to his dead's father basement-laboratory. Short after David and his best friends realize that his father was part of a US secret scientific agency they find out that he was working on a time machine. This is where the fun part (and highly improbable one) starts and the bright trio of friends, accompanied by David's sister and the girl David is in love with, construct a working time-machine. A nice and refreshing development of Dean Israelite is that even with the time-machine invented, David and company never takes itself too seriously and try to enjoy life in a simple, teen way. Add up the romance between insecure David and Jesse (Sofia Black-D'Elia) and you would get a complete teen-flick.

The only two problems, which actually spoil most of the movie, is the fact that the whole sci-fi part seems completely unconvincing. Obvious glitches in the story are not explained, but one is ready not to pay attention to them for the sake of enjoying the likeable performances of the cast and the restrained romance between David and Jesse. Unfortunately, what almost makes the movie a mediocre delivery is the whole concept of the found-footage used by director Dean Israelite. Annoying and without being able to add any value in terms of making the story more convincing, this directorial choice is what deprives the movie from being an excellent and probably even more successful teen flick.

Nevertheless, Project Almanac remains a decently entertaining teen sci-fi flick which could have been even better. A passable option for a home video evening it is a proper way to waste some time if you have nothing else to do.