31 Days of Halloween: Timequest – a chance to rewrite history (2000)

Courtesy of Destination Earth LLC

Back to Bruce

As I have stated before, this movie is all over the place. Now, we are rejoining William Roberts in the present day. He is on a chat show talking about his latest project or conspiracy theory. RFK is the movie that he is discussing which sounds suspiciously like JFK.

Roberts goes on to state that he would rather talk about his next film, November 22, 1963. William goes on to show the Zapruder film which he says clearly shows Bobby Kennedy behind the fence on the grassy knoll.  His purpose for making this movie is to expose the hidden agenda that the Kennedys were protecting. Wow. I thought Jesse Ventura had some pretty far out ideas.

Coming Full Circle

Now, we are back in the past.  We are treated to the big reveal on why the Time Traveler showed up. Although he doesn’t come out and say it, from a small boy, he was smitten with Jackie Kennedy. He presents her with a drawing he did of her as a child.

Deeply touched, they stare at one another. Then, he asks her if she would dance with him.  Wait a minute (insert screeching record sound)! Let me get this straight. He traveled decades, years, hell maybe even centuries just to DANCE with her?

Since the Time Traveler created a new timeline by warning the Kennedy’s of their impending demises, he ceases to exist and vanishes! In this new world, JFK lives to be eighty-three years old. RFK gets to be president.

There are some skirmishes with J. Edgar Hoover who is brilliantly played by the late character actor, Larry Drake. Barry Corbin is featured as Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Revealing Portrait

Going into present day, Raymond (from the first frame of the movie) is an artist trying to get discovered. You can see by his work in progress, that the painting looks remarkedly like Jackie Kennedy. Who oddly enough in this brand-new world is a painter just like him.

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One night after a rather dismal showing in an art gallery, a mysterious benefactor appears and he makes a sale. The following day while he is working in his studio, the telephone rings and he is summoned to the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port by James Kennedy. James is President Kennedy’s other son in the new timeline.

Once there Raymond gets a little more than he bargained for because James tells him that he knows his true identity. Sorry, no spoilers!

The Verdict

The best part about this movie written and directed by Robert Dyke (he directed Moontrap and was a visual FX person on Evil Dead 2) is Bruce Campbell. For you constant readers out there, I know what you are thinking.

“Susan, you will always say you like Bruce even if he reads the phonebook.” This isn’t true, I have openly admitted to not liking My Name Is Bruce at first. However, in this particular instance, it is very true.

Dyke’s script was ambitious. He really wanted to make it touching. However, he also wanted to make a statement. Sometimes the two worlds do not mesh. I felt incredibly let down by the dance sequence with Jackie Kennedy. It could have been more impactful instead of almost laughable.

His direction and knowledge of special FX is clearly evident. The actors were doing their best but the script was so disjointed that I can only imagine they might have wondered what the hell time period they were in.

Script Doctor, Please!

By exploring the “what if” factor of the Kennedy’s not being assassinated was interesting but it smacked too much of an advertisement for how much better the world would have been. How much better this movie would have been if it could have had a script polish.

For those of you that are Bruce fans and want to see him in different roles, you are in luck. He plays the part of the Oliver Stone clone, William Roberts with conviction. You buy him as a conspiracy spouting, controversial film guru. His performance alone is enough to watch this flick for Halloween.

Next: 31 Days of Halloween: Man with the Screaming Brain (2005)

Do you like science fiction? Are you a Bruce Campbell fan? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you!