Shuffle [DVD]

SHUFFLE is one of those no-frills indie film that feel like a postgrad project by media studies students who took a single semester of modern philosophy. Presumably they also took some mildly mind-altering pharmaceuticals and stayed up real late (3am, maybe) while this thought experiment took shape. I suspect the idea to film it occurred after pizza and before finding those stale biscuits at the back of the cupboard (you know they were dog biscuits, right?)I really enjoyed it (the film, not the biscuits), but then I like disjointed timelines and quirky conundrums. The plot is a bit like ‘Memento’, but with none of Chris Nolan’s budget (or flair, to be fair). The hero is living his life a random day at a time. He wakes up one day and he’s age 12, then next day he’s 43, and so on. There appears to be no pattern to his zigzag existence and he doesn’t know what happens at any time, so he’s piecing together the strands of his own story. Gradually it takes shape, and there’s Sinister Things and a Terrible Event.Is this like a Star Trek time travel story? Can he prevent the awfulness occurring?Tiny cast, reasonably performances, acceptable script, zero effects, blurry filming to indicate oddness, and a definite ‘keep up at the back there’ vibe. Enough unpredictable oddness to keep me guessing – even if the big twist was signalled loud and clear early on. Possibly a little too languid for most folk.7/10

There's so much to praise about this film. I'm a professional writer, so let's begin with the high standard of the script.Right from the first 30 seconds of this film you will be intrigued. Once hooked, the storyline will pull you in. The mystery will keep you guessing, and the interplay of characters fleshes that 'shuffled' storyline out beautifully. Just like the main character, it's important to pay attention to appreciate the craft of this script. In particular, some of the dialogue is at a genius level, carrying meaning without being too heavy-handed. It's especially rare that writers manage to adjust dialogue well for children, but this script represents the younger characters perfectly.All in all, from the perspective of script and plot, all the markers that need to be hit by this film are perfectly placed, making it a technical marvel. Full appreciation for that!But more than that, this is a deep, emotional, moving experience that will leave a significant impression as the credits roll. I can see why people have compared it to older classic films and yes, if that's your style, you'll love this - no sex, violence, exploding robots or foul language, just a triumph of classic writing that everyone involved can be very proud to have created. A 5 star recommendation.

Some have made reference to "A Wonderful life" in other comments. There are elements which create a fair comparison but it is a very different story an plot. An emotional rollercoaster which has you reconsider the way you, yourself, approach, and think about, life. It is NOT a "Thriller" in the usual sense at all and it has been miss-labeled by that in my opinion. The actors do a great job and I think this may be the only 5 star I have given on this site. I'm sure others will view it differently but our opinions on movies are informed, sometimes, by our own experience in life.

Nice intriguing concept that congealed into an amorphous blob. The whole effort put in the 'gift' makes no sense with regards to the big reveal. It just goes off into a sad and soppy direction that left me frustrated with the non-sequitur - I don't want to reveal too much of the plot but it's both cheesy AND going to let down anyone who might be rooting for the 'love of his life' thing.

This is a great film, with suggestions of It's A Wonderful Life. No big name stars but fine performances all around and a really clever plot. Don't listen to the nay-sayers - Shuffle is a great way to spend some time!

Although it has that "independent" flair, the actors play well, the storyline is logic in the majority of the film, and the actor is really, excellent. The display of emotions gets to you. I recommend it.

Intriguing start, slightly Memento-style, but goes rapidly downhill into a series of sugary vignettes and soppy life lessons. The final twist was basically pre-announced mid-film. Another disappointing take on the sentimental time travel genre.

This film had an interesting conceptSummary: A man Lovell Milo is living s different day of his life every day. He doesn't know his long term past but he always know where he is on each day (short term memory recall) He doesn't know why it's happening just that he wants it to stop. He gradually see's he needs to do something important to be free....That's my summary. Don't want to spoil it too much but I found this film interestingIt went between laid back funny scene to more series dramatic scene's very well without losing momentumThere is a good theme throughout, particular I liked the reference to the main character's profession as a photographer which seemed like it would be significantThat's bring me to the one flaw in this film.The ending while it offers an explanation in my opinion was an easy and predictable solution. There were so many scene's in this film pointing to a bigger picture the one they chose just felt cliched and over emotional and cheesy. The camera which I mentioned alongside the protagonist's own dialogue seemed to hint at a mystery waiting to be solved sadly the solution was not worth the built upThat said this is still an entertaining film most of the way and the ending while predictable would delight many other viewer's