ESCAPE THROUGH TIME

Produced, Written, and Edited by Mark and Michael Lynn
Directed and Photographed by Michael Lynn

Jill - Jill Killinger
Kristen - Kristen Meyer
Mafia Boss - Carl Schoenborn

I'll give moviemaking brothers Mark and Michael Lynn credit, they know how to keep a movie rolling along at a brisk clip. There's very little down town in their early effort ESCAPE THROUGH TIME, a 1993 production the pair made while apparently still in highschool with the help of their classmates. The movie has the same look and feel of Canadian youth-oriented television programs like The Tribe and The Odyssey where teenagers all play the adult roles.

The plot is pretty loose pastiche of various genres, the sci-fi thriller, the mob flick, the wester, and Arthurian quest. Jill and Kristen, two actresses hounded by a lovesick fanboy, come in possession of a ring called the Time Distorter. With this ring, the two young ladies hop through time while having little adventures and trying to stay one step ahead of a group of mobsters trying to come collect the ring for themselves. It's TIME BANDITS meats BUGSY M ALONE.

Considering that the moviemakers were still kids at the time this was made, the results are all the more impressive. Some of the action, especially a wild west shoot out, has the brutal feel of an old directing pro cutting loose and having some fun. The production, almost 10 years old and shot on ½ inch tape, is professionally edited with a quick pacing structure that prevents any of the segments from lingering on longer then they have to.

If I had to nitpick, which of course I will, the only downside to any of story is that the Lynn's never draw any parallels between the action in the various time destinations. Instead, they rely on genre cliches to get the action moving, but in their defense, once things get going the two have fun by playing up modern day sensibilities against old world themes including sexism and ethnocentrism. Also to their credit, the Lynn's never beat their audience over the head with their subtext opting to keep the focus on the action. Maybe the audience will get the point, or maybe they wont. ESCAPE THROUGH TIME works just as easily for anyone looking past the surface as it does for those willing to sit back and enjoy some high schoolers give the old college try.