Real Time

There’s little doubt that Real Time‘s admittedly intriguing premise initially seems as though it’s going to be squandered by writer/director Randall Cole, as the filmmaker generally stresses hopelessly quirky situations and conversations that grow increasingly tiresome as the movie progresses. The storyline, which follows a compulsive gambler (Jay Baruchel’s Andy) as he’s given one hour to live by Australian hitman Reuben (Randy Quaid), has been augmented with a whole host of gratuitous elements, with Andy’s pointless detours, including a visit to a fast-food chicken joint and a quest to find a prostitute that looks like Rosie Perez, certainly ranking high on the list of Cole’s unfortunate transgressions. That said, Baruchel and Quaid’s downright stellar work ensures that the film does remain fairly watchable even through its more overtly inane stretches – as the actors effortlessly transform themselves into characters that are a far cry from their usual onscreen personas. It’s only as Cole takes the emphasis off of Andy and Reuben’s relentlessly off-kilter shenanigans that Real Time starts to become as engaging as its performances, with the movie’s final half hour affecting and involving in ways that one might not have initially anticipated.

**1/2 out of ****