Life Tracker

source: Life Tracker

Spoiler Alert. . . Enjoy the movie by watching first if you don't want to learn about scenes and events of the movie. Cinema Verite style has been used to give bad movies an edge but this movie is a modest success. The budget must have been minuscule and there are some continuity problems but for a modest budget POV kind of movie. This sort of works. The Belfast clock and the World clock were confusing at the beginning especially since the whole movie was shot in LA. But it holds together in a strange kind of way as the movie unfolds. The Uriel Patterson actor overacted the creepiness factor and I think he would have been better served by playing the role straight. I have a feeling his "narrative" role was added as an afterthought. The "cowboy" leader of Lifetracker was a costume knockoff of LRH and there are some initial games being played with character/real life people but it's a minor inconvenience and probably one that is unavoidable given the nature of the subject matter. Movie-making like this should be encouraged. The comparisons to Scientology methods and the nature of personal prediction tied disparate elements together nicely. The twist that Belfast didn't disintegrate on DDay and the subsequent world day destruction was a nice surprise and really unexpected. The writer/director shows that you can make a thoughtful movie full of ideas and social situations without CGI, big named actors and a huge budget. In fact, it seems that the larger the budget, the less intellectual the movie and that is sad. I would like to see this director get a bigger budget and see if he can stretch his legs a little. Overall the acting was TV quality but that's not the director's problem. It is ours. By elevating reality TV "stars" to the same level as legitimate actors, we have lessened what we expect from the craft of acting. It's too bad but a sign of the times I guess.

What can I say? Probably one of the best mockumentaries I've ever seen. It is also a testament to the downside of excessive technologies. It is a film in which a company, Life Tracker Limited, is able to predict a person's potential future, based on their DNA. It can even predict your death. Unfortunately, it predicts the exact same 'death day' for 99.9 percent of the world's population. The actors treated this like a serious film, which it was. They were well chosen. All were personable, funny, good natured, and capable of raw emotion when the script called for it. The script itself was well written. It was understandable and relatable and very realistic. It's a very intelligently done movie, and good for a night in. Don't let the running time fool you. It may say one hour seven minutes, but it's actually one hour forty seven minutes.

Yes this film was a great idea. Someone somewhere came up with a cool idea for a movie. Other than that it's all downhill. What it appears like is that a bunch of stoner friends got together with some cheap cameras, had no access to a budget or good equipment, no access to producers or directors or studios or a cast of actors... So they shot it themselves over a weekend. The acting is beyond bad. It's gruelingly uncomfortable watching these homies attempt to clumsily "act" through this dreadful dialog. It's so annoying at times that you literally have to fast forward through it. The main actors are just so so bad. What's worse is that one worries that it is them who actually trying to direct it too. I would have loved this movie to be good. Unfortunately it's just dreadful.

What I liked most about this movie was the fact that the director actually covered his bases with the whole "found footage" concept, which in my opinion has been done to death at this point. But here, there's an actual reason for it, and the quality gets better as the film progresses. Not going to give spoilers out as to how it was done, but I think it's done in a smart way and offers some originality to the "found footage" concept. It always bothered me in other movies like, "Paranormal 23489" or whatever number they're on now, as to "why the hell are these people holding cameras?? They would never do it in real life!" In Life Tracker they attempt to fix this which I appreciated. The movie is a little slow at first, but it didn't bother me. A little extra character development felt nice. I know all big budget movies use quick cuts and 30 second scenes to bypass solid story telling, but I like slower cuts. Besides, the movie gets more interesting in the second half so investing in the first half is worth it. It's not for short attention spans so I see why a big studio probably passed on it, but the concept is cool and and dealt with very scientifically. Again, the writer and directors covered their bases here which I appreciated. If your looking for "Face/Off," look elsewhere, but this movie offers some solid Sci/Fi concepts and good plot.

We found "Life Tracker" via On Demand's sci-fi selection of new releases. This movie has a synopsis that is intriguing: if your genes could predict your future, would you want to know? It is an original idea, with believable actors, and a surprise conflict (even to those desensitized and/ or jaded...) that kept my interest until the bitter end. I am not typically a fan of "found footage" movies, but I forgot about the filming style as it was deeply incorporated into the plot of the movie. Genetic reading is not such a far-fetched idea. Genetic research and it's scientific credibility has grown to be a powerful tool in medical and forensic fields. It seems to be the key to everything. The characters in this film are relatable and gripping. We watch their initial jovial disposition (regarding the genetic readings) shift into a tenacious and frightened need to know. ~Mary Ann @grabdmama and Shannon @feralthundercat

I was impressed be the " real people " feel to the characters. I could really relate to them. Maybe it was the director's use of new talent, with a few tried and truly talented familiar actors in the mix, but it really worked. The genetic theory was very believable. I think I even heard on the radio somewhere a doctor is very close or already has found a gene along these lines. It seemed a little slow at 1st, but caught my attention quick, and kept it all the way to the end. I would like to see more from Joe McClean. Even if you sort of guessed what was coming, it was really a "wow" feel to it. I will tell my friends about this one. I would also say watch it for yourself, well worth it.

This movie was quite dry, and very self defacing for the first 15 minutes or so at least. You have to get past that, and it is difficult because of the painfully bland character you experience first, and the way no one ever seems to treat him very nicely is not easy to watch either. However all of that is there for a reason it would appear. You need to feel really bad for this guy just so that when things get to the ultimate fun of the movie, which is when they get the first readings back from a licensed Life Tracker reader. Once the first reads begin you start to understand that this movie is more than a 1 camera piece of bad steady cam crap,(because they continually upgrade equipment as the movie is made) but rather a much deeper story, that had to start out broke, because you have to have somewhere to call a bottom if you are ever going to make it to the top right? So I don't want to spoil the fun of this story for anyone, I just want you to know that getting through the first half of the movie will pay off for you with an original story, and some very good acting as the protagonists each learn new things they had not been expecting. Honestly I am not sure if the casting selections were the best, but I think that the Director did get the best performances from each of the actors, even if I personally would have gone with a different line up. You will enjoy this movie though, that I can say for certain, you will start to care about people who at the start of the film seem like the type of people you would not want to know, but fate, and time do as they must. Enjoy, and be well. Jesse of www.jesse.ca

This was a fantastic movie! It played like an honest-to-goodness homemade documentary. Virtually every scene was viewed from the eye of the hand held camera. The characters were so believable and so natural that you really don't think of them as "acting". The plot was a little less believable, but I don't think this film was meant to imply that this technology would ever become a reality to that extent. Although some of the technology does exist at the present time, Joe McClean takes it to a whole new level. The film had me from the beginning. Some people say that you have to push through the first part of the movie to get to the "good part", but I found it interesting and engaging from the first minute. (although I really thought there was something wrong with my player during the first few minutes because of the poor quality of the video! Which just added to the realism.) I strongly recommend this film. It's a departure from anything else you have seen before and that alone makes it worth watching. 10 Stars & 5 Thumbs Up for this one!

I am generally quite tolerant of independent . I don't mind lack of effects and other limits from small budgets. But this film is an insult to the viewer in every respect. The writing is utterly unforgivable. Not only is the dialog a childish string of inane clichés, overall story is so full of massive plot holes, that suspension of disbelief is impossible for anyone with an IQ above that of a hamster. And really what is with these "actors"? Seriously, unknowns are fine, but abjectly untalented isn't necessary. There are plenty of unknowns with lots of training and talent that can be had for free. There was no reason to use people who could not act their way out of a paper bag. And to the director: have your actors do something other than shouting and mumbling. OK? Yeah, you got no budget, so "documentary style" eg hand-held because you can't rent equipment or locations is OK. But you don't need to jutter the viewers, zoom and pan like someone who has never used a camera to emphasize that! Skip this film.