It’s challenging to create a movie. It’s even more challenging to create a movie on a low budget that doesn’t give a whole lot of money to pay for the actors’ salaries.
“I saved up money for about a year, we were going to try to make it for $13,000 and, of course, the budget ended up going to $26,000,” said Rachel Tucker, producer and writer of indie comedy Time Expired. “It’s hard to find actors excited enough to be in it and work for almost nothing. That’s the biggest issue – flakiness. If you’re not paying people, they’re likely to flake on you.”
Time Expired by Black Mesa Films has an unconventional premise: Randall (Eric Starkey), a parking enforcement officer, finds out he suffers from a terminal illness and has only a few months to live. Not that this is a huge deal for him. Randall’s biggest care is to get the local university president to fix a broken parking meter. While his reaction doesn’t amount to much, his girlfriend Sasha (Carrie Slaughter), mother Corrina and best friend Jay make up for his reaction, bombarding Randall with yoga classes, healthy food and crazy adventuring to live up his life before his timely death.
The stalwart, stoic Randall has a hard time bringing himself to do anything but work. The characters are what make an otherwise dramatic plot into a haphazard comedy. Randall takes his death least seriously, Sasha wants a baby with him and his mother starts hanging out with a health guru, striving for spiritual attunement. While not exactly laugh out loud humor, the sheer ridiculousness of the plot makes up for the occasionally flat jokes.
Probably the most entertaining parts of the movie are adventures with Jay (Topher Owen), reminiscent of Zach Galifianakis in Due Date. Jay makes up a “list of things to do before dying” involving go-kart racing, breaking world records in hot dog eating and using a grappling hook on windows as an alternate to doors. Owen's performance stands out as the quirky, entertaining character.
Randall takes center stage, though. He finally does decide to get a sandwich different from his regular at his favorite joint. This film has character development, and it is definitely enjoyable to see all characters break out of their comfort zones, ultimately what this film is about.
The cinematography and soundtrack are well done and definitely stand out. The soundtrack includes rock music but usually sticks to characteristic whistling or acoustic guitar, setting the ambiance for this sort of wacky story.
The bottom line: This free-to-watch spectacle is worth it for its light treatment of a serious topic. it doesn’t boggle you down with philosophical ramble. It's a great, little getaway from Northwestern.
Time Expired is free to stream online and can be purchased as a DVD on the site for 99 cents.