Time Indefinite Movie Review

As a follow-up to his stunning Sherman's March, Ross McElwee trains the camera on... himself, again, in what amounts to a sort of sequel and extension to his girl-chasing earlier film.

Eight years later we find McElwee older and more mature, soon to be married and wrestling with the thought of becoming a father. Meanwhile, the older members of his family are near the end of their time here, and McElwee deftly spends time contrasting his happy new life as a newlywed with his sadness over the death of certain relatives and, most tragically here, his wife's New Year's Eve miscarriage.

Time Indefinite is a must-see for McElwee fans, but casual onlookers can safely skip it. The film is interesting as a follow-up, much in the way the sequels to the 7-Up series are, but it hardly hangs together on its own. In fact, much of the early footage is recycled from older McElwee documentaries, and one gets a serious feeling of deja vu when watching the movie. By the end, McElwee is back to spending long stretches of time with standbys like his sister and the unstoppable Charleen Swansea, a woman who appears in virtually every one of McElwee's movies (he even made a short film all about her), despite the fact that she doesn't really have anything to say.

The title's a bit of a tipoff: This is McElwee trying to be a little too serious. Sure, he's got some real tragedies to explore in this film, and that's fine, but he's simply made much better movies before and since.

The DVD, sans extras, is also part of the exhaustive Ross McElwee Collection.