When a tech blogger lands an interview with a tech guru and stops an attack on him, he finds a mysterious ring that takes him back 57 seconds into the past.
27 Jan 57 Minutes (2023)
Circuit-Face
There are three layers to this thing. The first is our standard pop noir where an ordinary yobbo is plucked from life for in this case changing the world and winning the girl. There’s some silly science in there. Nothing interesting. Standard noir Voiceover narration.
The second layer is the world building. For all intents, this is a devil-&-angel world embodied by two genius billionaires. One — the evil guy — is played by someone who looks and acts like Kevin Bacon. The other looks and acts like Morgan Freeman. They are both in health care with the bad guy in drugs and the good guy in some spooky tech. They are opposed.
I think in editing, a major plot line was dropped, providing the possibility that the good angel had manipulated all the events we see by some magical ‘hi-tech’ wristband gifted to our rube and his girl.
The third layer is the world of the gods, how it is cinematically presented. The bad angel is the CEO of the world’s largest drug company, a monopoly that seems centred on only one (apparently unregulated) drug. Perhaps for economy, we see none of his world, only his two lieutenants: a schemer/lover/secretary, and a trusted majordomo. The setting is primarily a moderately lux house.
The other guy, the Morgan Freeman character, is a genius scientist/businessman from unknown past but who has an apparent majority of adults wearing his wristbands. No one seems to know how deep his influence is over their lives, but whatever depth, they welcome it. We also see nothing of his business or lab, just a meeting room. Except for one fixture that is the point of this comment.
He has a hooded figure with him at all times, with a name that I’ve forgotten. Possibly ‘Ingram’. He does not speak. He has a darkish complexion (listed in the cast as ‘dark man’), not quite Earthly. We only see his face. The actor seems to be a face model, specialising in androgyny: Kynt Bryan.
On his face is a bizarre set of white markings that we should believe are permanent. Possibly these are in-grams. In the only fantasy CGI segment at the end, we see those markings animated as if they showed some computing within.
In effect, this face is supposed to define the world of mystery, in which these two demigods battle, and that is the stage on which we see our bozo guy and his pretty but profoundly dumb girl read their lines. All else is situated inference, other than Freeman explaining he discovered ‘quantum crystals’ but kept it secret because of his skin.
Posted in 2025
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
No Comments