Director: Oren Moverman
Cast: Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone, Steve Buscemi, Jeremy Strong
Running Time: 120 mins
Release Date: March 2016
TIME OUT OF MIND follows a homeless man (RICHARD GERE) for a few days as he tries to find shelter, attempts to reconcile with his estranged daughter (JENA MALONE) and tries to get back on his feet.
There are some interesting things about Time Out of Mind and some other aspects that just do not work. The whole concept of following a homeless man as he wanders around New York City for a few days is interesting and pretty effective. Dismissing the usual story structure of a beginning, middle, and end is useful in portraying how hard being homeless can be. Choosing someone as well-known as Richard Gere initially seemed like a very bad idea but he gives a good performance. He is able to make you think ‘here is a homeless person’ instead of ‘here’s Richard Gere looking a bit scruffy.’ It’s also good at highlighting how the cause of homelessness is a little bit more complicated than simply being people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. It shows that homelessness can happen to anyone.
However, some aspects of Time Out of Mind do not work and actually damage the film a little. The direction by Oren Moverman was clearly trying to show that homeless people are seldom thought about by mainstream society and is often dismissed. Most shots in this film are shot through shop windows or obscured in some way by something in the foreground. There are also phone conversations, trucks, and other typical sounds of New York City often on top of or next to the actual dialogue. Despite this being admirable for trying to symbolize the way in which homeless people are forgotten about, it begins to get quite irritating after five minutes. Eventually, all you want is a wide shot of someone speaking clearly.
The film succeeds in pointing out a lot of the systematic failures homeless people can face. Even if someone who is homeless is trying really hard to get back on their feet, the system can block them at several points. These range from needing a physical copy of your identity and birth certificate in order to qualify for any benefits, to then needing a home address in order for these documents to be sent to you, should you need new copies. This is the strongest aspect of Time Out of Mind; it is clear they have made this film with the needs of homeless people in mind, and that they want people to begin to discuss this issue more often in order to try to solve the problem.
Time Out of Mind’s ending is also a really great aspect. It would be too easy to create a Hollywood-style film about a homeless man roaming through New York City. Thankfully, this film does not do that and instead focuses on a loose structure with no specific ending – to highlight how not every story of homelessness ends happily.
Overall, Time Out of Mind is a film that is trying to encourage a dialogue about these complex issues. However, as a film, it fails to keep the audience engaged at several points. The direction is sometimes overly complex and feels a bit cluttered, the interactions between characters is great and very realistic, but the noise on top of these scenes can be quite annoying.
Verdict
