Minutemen
2008 · Directed by Lev L. Spiro
Original language: English
- family
- tv movie
- comedy
- science fiction
The story
When three high-school friends invent a time-machine, they decide to use it to go back in time and prevent other youngsters from making humiliating mistakes.
What it’s like
Bright, flat daytime light and bland suburban interiors: school hallways under fluorescent tubes, sun-washed driveways, a garage workshop cluttered with wires and tools. This is a Disney Channel-style TV movie, so the camera stays conventional, with plenty of medium two-shots, quick cutaways and crisp, glossy digital color rather than any grain or texture. Sound leans on bouncy pop-rock and cheerful incidental music that marks each time jump with a sparkly sting, and the dialogue carries most of the comedy. The pacing is brisk and episodic, with short scenes that loop back to the same slapstick embarrassments from new angles. The mood is light, goofy and reassuringly low-stakes: a teen comedy about friends who mean well and make things worse, and how they learn to own their mistakes. There is no real violence, no sexual content and no frightening material, only mild peril played for laughs. It suits an easy weekday afternoon, a sick-day watch, or a family movie night with younger kids, and it is aimed at tweens and teens who want a cheerful, undemanding sci-fi comedy about growing up.
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