Angel

PG-13. 115 min

Hi everybody I think it's time for another one of my spoiler alerts. I realize that it's hard to stay completely unaware of a movie’s plot with so much advertising and word of mouth but this time I think it would be a good idea because I really think you should go see THE SHIFT. The blurb would have you think this is a fantasy/drama in which a man, in the manner of Billy Pilgrim, becomes unstuck not so much in time but actually the metaverse, and who will spend the rest of the film trying to get back to the love of his life. That's true but it's pretty vague and definitely a misdirection. Kevin's (Kristoffer Polaba) life as a money manager suddenly falls apart. While wallowing in his misery at a hotel bar an attractive young lady, Molly (Elizabeth Tabish) begins to flirt. It turns out she's doing this on a dare from her buddies, yet the conversation soon turns into a spark of attraction and eventually to a fire. In a few short years it's become a once in a lifetime romance straight from Heaven Itself. At this point I hope you stop reading andiare checking the local listings because here comes the part that I never could have predicted. Kevin is involved in a car crash and awakens battered and dazed in a back alley being tended to buy a strange man who calls himself the Benefactor. In the metaverse there are thousands if not millions or more parallel universes, each of which a slightly (or vastly) different version of the rest. Kevin has been transported to a dystopian world where people are starving and the streets are ruled by futuristic storm troopers and he and Molly are no longer together. The Benefactor shows Kevin that he has the power to send him back to Molly but, of course, there's a price. It seems the Benefactor (Neal McDonough) is recruiting and all Kevin needs to do to receive this ticket to paradise is to join the team. At this point I don't doubt that everyone has figured out the allegory but that's just scratching the surface. There are many more fascinating moving parts any one of which could spark hours of conversation. The riggt thing or the easy way out?

The casting is perfect the story is riveting and McDonough's performance is one of the best I've seen all year as he's skillfully walks the line between kindness and evil.

Regardless of where you are spiritually, I can't imagine that you wouldn't love this film and be inspired by the positive message at the end. I have no idea how this will fare with the Tinseltown crowd but from my perspective it is absolutely a must see.

A+

WSS