Review: Real Time

 Perennial screw-up Jay Baruchel has racked up a whole lot of gambling debts, and his debtor ain’t happy with Baruchel’s flippant attitude to owing money. As a result, he has sent Australian hitman Randy Quaid (!) to kill him. Quaid, though, is a softie at heart and has decided to give Baruchel one hour to live, an hour to go and tie up all of his loose ends and make peace. He can do whatever he likes in that hour, it’s up to him. But once his time is up, well, his time is up. Jayne Eastwood plays Baruchel’s estranged grandmother, whom he used to steal money from.

This quirky 2008 Indie flick from Canadian writer-director Randall Cole (whose other films I have not seen nor heard of before) is no world-beater, but it’s a pretty watchable time-waster. Quaid adopts a sometimes dead-on (and sometimes way off) Aussie accent, and steals the show with his large physical presence but laidback, thoughtful nature. He’s a supremely underrated actor (with admittedly a bizarre personal life of late) and certainly a very versatile one. I mean, this guy has played Cousin Eddie, an AWOL kleptomaniac sailor (in “The Last Detail”, which this film kinda resembles, with Baruchel in the Quaid role, essentially, but with jail time replaced by death as the seemingly inevitable fate), US Presidents, Frankenstein’s Monster, cops, morons, androids, cannibalistic parents- you name it, Randy has done it, in several different genres. The fact that Randy Freakin’ Quaid (known for more hick/good ‘ol boy vocal intonations) is even attempting an Aussie accent in the first place was enough to keep me watching, and I was shocked at how close he got at times. It’s a tricky accent, and although there were occasional traces of Texan drawl, cockney, and Kiwi in there, it’s still one of the better Aussie accents I’ve heard an American attempt (Meryl Streep is still the standard-bearer, I guess). Hell, at times he sounds a little like Bryan Brown, though surprisingly his accent isn’t as broad as you might expect (or as broad as Brown’s for that matter), as it’s a relatively low-key performance from Quaid.

Baruchel is well-cast, if not especially likeable, and you still end up kinda caring about what happens to the poor, reckless kid (Even if Quaid’s playing the much more interesting character). Baruchel ultimately makes you sorry to see this poor scared kid finally realise that all of his reckless behaviour is finally catching up with him and he’s scared to die.

It’s not got much going on, but you won’t likely turn the channel, either. Worth a look if you come across it and have little else on offer.

Rating: B-