Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel
Encyclopedia
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (styled as FAQ About Time Travel) is a 2009 science fiction
comedy film
directed by Gareth Carrivick from a script by Jamie Mathieson, starring Anna Faris
, Chris O'Dowd
, Marc Wootton
and Dean Lennox Kelly
.
The film follows two social outcasts and their cynical friend as they attempt to navigate a time travel
conundrum in the middle of a British pub
. Faris plays a girl from the future who sets the adventure in motion.
It was released in the UK and Ireland on 24 April 2009.
On its television premiere on BBC Two on 1 August 2010, the film was dedicated to its director Gareth Carrivick, who had died earlier in the year.
) being fired from his job at a local theme park. His two friends Pete (Dean Lennox Kelly
) and Toby (Marc Wootton
) dress in brightly coloured fluffy dinosaur costumes to promote "Dinoburgers" at the theme park restaurant. Pete has a side bet with Toby that Ray will not be able to go five minutes without mentioning time travel
, which Pete wins.
After work they chat in a cafe, then go to the cinema. Leaving the film they complain about the quality of the movie, and that someone should write a letter to Hollywood. Toby declares that he has many great ideas and reads some from his notebook, which the others promptly mock. In the pub he does write the letter and complains about remakes, Jude Law
, Han shot first
, and mentions "more Firefly
and/or Serenity
" as a positive suggestion. He tears the completed letter out of his notebook and leaves it on the table.
To avoid the queue Ray goes to the bar in another section of the pub. A girl called Cassie (Anna Faris
) catches his attention, and she talks to him about time travel. He assumes she must be a prank setup by his friends. She explains she is a time traveler whose time machine has been built into her body, and that her job is to find and repair "time leaks" and stop "editors" (rival time travelers who try to "improve history" by killing famous people at their finest moment). Ray tells his friends about this meeting, which they think he's making up.
Pete goes out to the toilet and upon returning finds the bar full of dead bodies, including his own bloody corpse. He runs to the toilet, and when he leaves the room again, he has returned to his own time. He wonders if this is the time leak Cassie has mentioned.
The others then follow him to the toilet and retrace his steps, in precise detail. They end up going back in time about a half hour. The bar seems normal at first but they notice their past selves already at their tables. Ray realises Cassie is still where he met her previously and goes to talk to her. Cassie doesn't believe him and leaves, only to immediately return, her hair and clothes having changed. She explains six months has passed for her even though only seconds passed for Ray.
They go talk in the garden, Cassie instructs Ray to simply hide out and wait the half hour until they catch up to the time their past selves went into the toilet. They wait in the cupboard. After waiting for a half hour, the three once again need to go to the toilet, and they use the women's toilets to avoid bumping into themselves. They leave but arrive in the distant future. Pete tries to go back into the women's toilet to reverse the trip, but appears again almost immediately, haggard and with a full grown beard and warning them not to go in. He explains he's been frequently using both toilets and randomly jumping time periods in an attempt to get back home. They go into the main bar, which is a crumble of broken walls and smashed furniture covered in ash and dust. Pete insists that what they need is weapons and food, so they scrounge around in the rubble, finding a knife, a corkscrew and an ancient package of potato chips with an expiration date of May 2094 (which taste bad, so well-past the sell by date). The outside world is a bleak ruin, also coated in ash and dust, indicating that they are in a post-apocalyptic future. Ray wants to go out to explore, and Toby wants to stay by the fire they've built till rescue comes, but Pete is eager to give the toilets another try so they can get back to their own time. While seeking a piece of wood to turn the knife into a spear, Pete discovers a mural on the back wall of the pub showing the three of them sitting in the pub dressed as they are now, implying that they become famous. Startled by a noise, they speculate that it could be the sound of a giant insect. It turns out to be just a homeless person walking by pushing a squeaky shopping trolley, who gets his head bitten off by a giant ant.
They wait in the toilet. Pete hints that sometimes other creatures enter the toilet. They hear a noise and hide. They see their past selves trace Pete's steps trying to travel in time. They hide from their past selves. After their past selves leave, they then run out into the garden to find the place full of people dressed just like them. It turns out to be an "imagineer" fan theme night based on them. A second time traveler named Millie from Causal Adjust shows up and helps send them back to their own time.
They end up back in the pub about an hour early, so they decide to sit at a nearby table eavesdropping on their earlier selves, buy some pints and wait it out. After their past selves leave, they go back to their original seats to read the note on the back of the letter that will make them famous. Ray goes outside to pee. Cassie appears again. Ray thanks Cassie and Millie and the people at Causal Adjust. Cassie doesn't know any Millie and realises she must be an editor sent to kill them at their finest moment. Cassie attempts to go back and fix the problem but her time machine has been taken offline, so she returns to the bar, finding Millie there. Pete fights with Toby to destroy the note, but they are stopped by Millie. Millie makes Toby an offer: "die and live on as legends or live a long life anonymously" but Toby defies her. Millie sets off a blast killing everyone in the pub (leading to the tableau of death that Pete had seen earlier). Ray makes one last move to reach for the note. He doesn't reach it but instead spills a pint, which destroys the note. With nothing to make them famous, time rewinds and things seem to have gone back to normal.
The three friends walk home and wonder if the adventure is really over. Cassie then appears through a big glowing time portal. She reveals that they have only fourteen hours to save the Earth, and they have to go with her to a parallel universe. Ray convinces them to jump into the portal. After they leave, Ray and Pete come out from around the corner, only to realise they have a second duplicate Pete.
After the credits Ray and the two Petes hear a shout "get back freak" and Toby runs past being chased by a version of himself.
Pete has the last words saying: "This is all getting a little bit too complicated".
and BBC Films
. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios
in the UK. The credits of the film include thanks to "The Wheatsheaf Pub".
" referencing the TV show Doctor Who
. In both the poster and a scene in the pub toilets, the three leads adopt the same pose as the characters on the poster for Back to the Future Part III
. Also in the future world a giant ant can be seen attacking a person, a possible reference to the movie of 1954 Them! or the general concept of the giant ant, as used in fiction. In the big showdown with Millie, Ray brandishes a gun and says "Get away from him you bitch", referencing Ripley's line from Aliens
. Towards the end of the film, Cassie says "Ray, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth", referencing the memorable quote in the 1980 Flash Gordon
film. The lead heroine coming back from an alternate universe as a soldier asking for the hero's help also references the ending of the film version of "Super Mario Bros"
.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Gareth Carrivick from a script by Jamie Mathieson, starring Anna Faris
Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
, Chris O'Dowd
Chris O'Dowd
Chris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
, Marc Wootton
Marc Wootton
Marc Wootton is an English character comedian. He is perhaps best known for his role as the fake medium and psychic, Shirley Ghostman, on the BBC Three series, High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman and he also appeared in Nativity!- Career :...
and Dean Lennox Kelly
Dean Lennox Kelly
Dean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:...
.
The film follows two social outcasts and their cynical friend as they attempt to navigate a time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
conundrum in the middle of a British pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. Faris plays a girl from the future who sets the adventure in motion.
It was released in the UK and Ireland on 24 April 2009.
On its television premiere on BBC Two on 1 August 2010, the film was dedicated to its director Gareth Carrivick, who had died earlier in the year.
Plot
The film begins with Ray (Chris O'DowdChris O'Dowd
Chris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
) being fired from his job at a local theme park. His two friends Pete (Dean Lennox Kelly
Dean Lennox Kelly
Dean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:...
) and Toby (Marc Wootton
Marc Wootton
Marc Wootton is an English character comedian. He is perhaps best known for his role as the fake medium and psychic, Shirley Ghostman, on the BBC Three series, High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman and he also appeared in Nativity!- Career :...
) dress in brightly coloured fluffy dinosaur costumes to promote "Dinoburgers" at the theme park restaurant. Pete has a side bet with Toby that Ray will not be able to go five minutes without mentioning time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, which Pete wins.
After work they chat in a cafe, then go to the cinema. Leaving the film they complain about the quality of the movie, and that someone should write a letter to Hollywood. Toby declares that he has many great ideas and reads some from his notebook, which the others promptly mock. In the pub he does write the letter and complains about remakes, Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
, Han shot first
Han shot first
"Han shot first" is a phrase used by Star Wars fans to refer to a controversial change made to a scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. In the scene, Han Solo meets the bounty hunter Greedo at the Mos Eisley Cantina...
, and mentions "more Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
and/or Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
" as a positive suggestion. He tears the completed letter out of his notebook and leaves it on the table.
To avoid the queue Ray goes to the bar in another section of the pub. A girl called Cassie (Anna Faris
Anna Faris
Anna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
) catches his attention, and she talks to him about time travel. He assumes she must be a prank setup by his friends. She explains she is a time traveler whose time machine has been built into her body, and that her job is to find and repair "time leaks" and stop "editors" (rival time travelers who try to "improve history" by killing famous people at their finest moment). Ray tells his friends about this meeting, which they think he's making up.
Pete goes out to the toilet and upon returning finds the bar full of dead bodies, including his own bloody corpse. He runs to the toilet, and when he leaves the room again, he has returned to his own time. He wonders if this is the time leak Cassie has mentioned.
The others then follow him to the toilet and retrace his steps, in precise detail. They end up going back in time about a half hour. The bar seems normal at first but they notice their past selves already at their tables. Ray realises Cassie is still where he met her previously and goes to talk to her. Cassie doesn't believe him and leaves, only to immediately return, her hair and clothes having changed. She explains six months has passed for her even though only seconds passed for Ray.
They go talk in the garden, Cassie instructs Ray to simply hide out and wait the half hour until they catch up to the time their past selves went into the toilet. They wait in the cupboard. After waiting for a half hour, the three once again need to go to the toilet, and they use the women's toilets to avoid bumping into themselves. They leave but arrive in the distant future. Pete tries to go back into the women's toilet to reverse the trip, but appears again almost immediately, haggard and with a full grown beard and warning them not to go in. He explains he's been frequently using both toilets and randomly jumping time periods in an attempt to get back home. They go into the main bar, which is a crumble of broken walls and smashed furniture covered in ash and dust. Pete insists that what they need is weapons and food, so they scrounge around in the rubble, finding a knife, a corkscrew and an ancient package of potato chips with an expiration date of May 2094 (which taste bad, so well-past the sell by date). The outside world is a bleak ruin, also coated in ash and dust, indicating that they are in a post-apocalyptic future. Ray wants to go out to explore, and Toby wants to stay by the fire they've built till rescue comes, but Pete is eager to give the toilets another try so they can get back to their own time. While seeking a piece of wood to turn the knife into a spear, Pete discovers a mural on the back wall of the pub showing the three of them sitting in the pub dressed as they are now, implying that they become famous. Startled by a noise, they speculate that it could be the sound of a giant insect. It turns out to be just a homeless person walking by pushing a squeaky shopping trolley, who gets his head bitten off by a giant ant.
They wait in the toilet. Pete hints that sometimes other creatures enter the toilet. They hear a noise and hide. They see their past selves trace Pete's steps trying to travel in time. They hide from their past selves. After their past selves leave, they then run out into the garden to find the place full of people dressed just like them. It turns out to be an "imagineer" fan theme night based on them. A second time traveler named Millie from Causal Adjust shows up and helps send them back to their own time.
They end up back in the pub about an hour early, so they decide to sit at a nearby table eavesdropping on their earlier selves, buy some pints and wait it out. After their past selves leave, they go back to their original seats to read the note on the back of the letter that will make them famous. Ray goes outside to pee. Cassie appears again. Ray thanks Cassie and Millie and the people at Causal Adjust. Cassie doesn't know any Millie and realises she must be an editor sent to kill them at their finest moment. Cassie attempts to go back and fix the problem but her time machine has been taken offline, so she returns to the bar, finding Millie there. Pete fights with Toby to destroy the note, but they are stopped by Millie. Millie makes Toby an offer: "die and live on as legends or live a long life anonymously" but Toby defies her. Millie sets off a blast killing everyone in the pub (leading to the tableau of death that Pete had seen earlier). Ray makes one last move to reach for the note. He doesn't reach it but instead spills a pint, which destroys the note. With nothing to make them famous, time rewinds and things seem to have gone back to normal.
The three friends walk home and wonder if the adventure is really over. Cassie then appears through a big glowing time portal. She reveals that they have only fourteen hours to save the Earth, and they have to go with her to a parallel universe. Ray convinces them to jump into the portal. After they leave, Ray and Pete come out from around the corner, only to realise they have a second duplicate Pete.
After the credits Ray and the two Petes hear a shout "get back freak" and Toby runs past being chased by a version of himself.
Pete has the last words saying: "This is all getting a little bit too complicated".
Cast
- Chris O'DowdChris O'DowdChris O'Dowd is an Irish comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Roy Trenneman in British sitcom The IT Crowd...
as Ray, the imagineer - Dean Lennox KellyDean Lennox KellyDean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:...
as Pete, the cynic - Marc WoottonMarc WoottonMarc Wootton is an English character comedian. He is perhaps best known for his role as the fake medium and psychic, Shirley Ghostman, on the BBC Three series, High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman and he also appeared in Nativity!- Career :...
as Toby, the dreamer - Anna FarisAnna FarisAnna Kay Faris is an American actress, singer and comedienne. She is known for her starring role in the Scary Movie film series, as well as roles in The Hot Chick , Lost in Translation , Just Friends , My Super Ex-Girlfriend , Smiley Face , and The House Bunny...
as Cassie, the time traveler - Meredith MacNeillMeredith MacNeillMeredith MacNeill is an actress originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, but now lives in the United Kingdom. She studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art....
as Millie, a second time traveler who is also an "editor"
Production
The film is a co-production between HBO FilmsHBO Films
HBO Films is a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. While much of HBO Films' output is created directly for the television market, such as the film Witness Protection and the mini-series Band of Brothers, Pacific, Generation Kill and Angels in...
and BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
in the UK. The credits of the film include thanks to "The Wheatsheaf Pub".
Design
The opening credits appear in outline block letters in light blue against the background of space, in the same style as the Superman films.Reception
| Source | Score | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Empire magazine | 3 / 5 | "Quirky and engaging with a script that keeps you on the ride." |
| The Irish Times | 2 / 5 | Described as a "mildly diverting yarn" but was critical of the small scale of the film and the apparently limited budget. |
Cultural references included in the film
Near the beginning of the film, Ray says that his "dream job" would be "Time LordTime Lord
The Time Lords are an ancient extraterrestrial race and civilization of humanoids in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, of which the series' eponymous protagonist, the Doctor, is a member...
" referencing the TV show Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. In both the poster and a scene in the pub toilets, the three leads adopt the same pose as the characters on the poster for Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III
Back to the Future Part III is a 1990 American science fiction comedy Western film. It is the third installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson. The film...
. Also in the future world a giant ant can be seen attacking a person, a possible reference to the movie of 1954 Them! or the general concept of the giant ant, as used in fiction. In the big showdown with Millie, Ray brandishes a gun and says "Get away from him you bitch", referencing Ripley's line from Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
. Towards the end of the film, Cassie says "Ray, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the Earth", referencing the memorable quote in the 1980 Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon (film)
Flash Gordon is a 1980 British/American science fiction film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges and produced and presented by Dino De Laurentiis. It stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian...
film. The lead heroine coming back from an alternate universe as a soldier asking for the hero's help also references the ending of the film version of "Super Mario Bros"
Super Mario Bros. (film)
Super Mario Bros. is a 1993 American action film directed by Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. Based on the Super Mario Bros.video game and its entire franchise, the film features Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper and Samantha Mathis. It tells the story of the Mario brothers, Mario and...
.
Soundtrack
- "KayleighKayleigh"Kayleigh" was a number two UK hit for British neo-progressive rock band Marillion in 1985. It remains the group's most successful single in terms of chart position. The single was kept from the UK Number 1 spot by charity single "You'll Never Walk Alone" by supergroup The Crowd in the summer of...
" - performed by The Countdown SingersThe Countdown SingersThe Countdown Singers is a name given to Madacy Entertainment's revolving group of studio musicians, used since 1994. They perform sound-alike cover versions of well-known songs. Their albums have mostly been panned by critics... - "Slippin' and Slidin'Slippin' and Slidin'"Slippin' and Slidin" is an R&B/rock song performed by Little Richard. The song is credited to Little Richard, Edwin Bocage , Al Collins, and James Smith....
" - Performed by Rendle - "Flea Circus" - Performed by Marder
- "GenoGeno (song)"Geno" is a song by Dexys Midnight Runners which reached #1 on the UK singles chart for two weeks in May 1980. Written by Kevin 'Al' Archer and Kevin Rowland, it was band's second single and their first number one...
" - Performed by The Countdown Singers - "The Land of Make Believe" - Performed by Bucks FizzBucks Fizz (band)Bucks Fizz are an English pop group who achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comprised four vocalists: Bobby G, Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and...
- "Rivers of BabylonRivers of Babylon"Rivers of Babylon" is a rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The Melodians' original versions of the song appeared in the sound track to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come and the 1999 Nicolas Cage movie...
" - Performed by Boney MBoney MBoney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba... - "Total Eclipse Of The HeartTotal Eclipse of the Heart"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is a song written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler for her fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night...
" - Performed by Bonnie TylerBonnie TylerBonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:... - "Magic" - Performed by The Countdown Singers
- "The Final CountdownThe Final Countdown (song)"The Final Countdown" is a rock song by the Swedish band Europe released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest, it was the first single from the band's third studio album which was also named The Final Countdown. It is considered by some to be the band's most recognizable and popular song. The song...
" - Performed by Eskimo Disco - "Human" - Performed by Ry Byron & The Gentleman