In the deadpan British comedy Time Travel Is Dangerous, Megan (Megan Stevenson) and Ruth (Ruth Syratt), two ditzy gals who run a vintage shop discover a discarded gizmo from the early VCR era. Looking suspiciously like a carnival bumper car, it turns out to be an operational time machine, which they use to pilfer objects in the past that they can merchandise in the present. “You can’t put a price on nostalgia. Well, we do.”
It never occurs to them to 1) go back and change history, 2) go back and reveal the answer to a historical mystery or 3) go back and get something crazy valuable, like the Holy Grail, or 4) sneak a peek at the future – they’re just getting stuff for their junk store. “We’re not scientifically-minded“. they’re not ANYTHING-minded,
The two are tracked down by a consortium of inventors, and Time Travel Is Dangerous brilliantly sends up organizational behavior and other human foibles (one becomes stuck in her insufferable teenage years. When they carelessly unlock a dangerous vortex, we’re off to another dimension. The filmmakers don’t take themselves too seriously, and the special effects are the best you can find at the Dollar Store
Jane Horrocks (Little Voice) appears, as does the esteemed Brian Blessed, in his most unrecognizable role. The narrator is Stephen Fry.
If you like Portlandia and Best In Show, but wish they were wackier, you’ll enjoy Time Travel Is Dangerous. I screened Time Travel Is Dangerous for its Bay Area premiere at Cinequest.
