Tuesday, March 15, 2016

RAINBOW TIME

Linas Phillips     Timm Sharp     Melanie Lynskey     Tobin Bell     Jay Duplass


     Rainbow Time, written, directed, produced and starring Linas Phillips, is a mess in picturing a dysfunctional family using measures that serve to increase problems rather than solve them.  Shonzi (Phillips)—because his name is Shaun and he loves Fonzi—is a sex-obsessed young man with no social skills and a ton of rage.  He had a prenatal brain injury that resulted in some damage to his brain, but my impression is that most of his issues are related to his family not setting limits with him and their general habit of making insincere statements, such as “I’m sorry”, when they’re not really, or “You’re great; everything’s fine” when they’re totally frustrated with one another.
     Shonzi is clearly frustrated in not being able to have a girlfriend and is envious of his younger brother Todd (Sharp) whose girlfriend is Lindsay (Lynskey).  Much of the story is Shonzi trying to come between them—which is supposed to be funny—but because of the way he does it and the family deals with it, I cringed over and over.  Case in point, Shonzi is inappropriate with Lindsay, and her solution is for him to stay with her while Todd goes to work, and maybe he could give her a back rub right now.
      Much of the plot is taken up with making videos, something of interest to Shonzi that he and Todd have bonded over.  But some of these are of Todd and Lindsay in intimate moments, and Shonzi manages to see these as well as nude photos of Todd’s ex-wife. 
Miraculously, Shonzi does improve, but there is nothing we’re shown that would make that a logical transition.

There aren’t many rainbows in Rainbow Time.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

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