Time Changer (2002)

Time Changer is an intriguing Christian film about a professor from the 1890's who travels in time to modern day to see the moral decline that has taken place. The professor, played by D. David Morin, has written a book that states we should be diligent to point out wrong from right in society. However, another professor, portrayed by Gavin MacLeod, takes issue with this one portion of the manuscript because it does not emphatically tie Jesus Christ to the moments where we point out wrong from right.

In other words, instead of telling someone they should not steal, we should tell them that they should not steal because of Jesus Christ.

MacLeod states "Satan doesn't have issue with good morals, he has issue with Jesus Christ." He argues to disassociate Christ with morals will lead to what we now call moral relativism. To make his point, MacLeod sends Morin into the future, via a H.G. Wells-esque time machine where moral relativism is in full swing.

The process of discovery by Morin's character in modern day society on the changing and lessening of moral truths is an eye-opening experience. We should be offended by movies where God's name is spoken in vain. We should be offended by slipping moral values in society. We should be offended that God cannot be spoken of in public institutions. We should be offended by disinterest in church and the amoral behavior prevalent on television and the internet.

But we are not.

And that's the point of the film. By walking us through this "old fashioned" view from the perspective of a 1890s bible scholar we are given insight into our own passivity toward the current moral decline in our country. It makes you think to the reasons why we've let things get so bad and how we could possibly recover and move us back to our moral center.

The film was made for approximately $800,000 and looks like it was made for much more. The film is Christian without being preachy, which is good. The look of the film is really wonderful and cinematographer Philip Hurn should be commended on making the imagery look like a multi-million dollar project.

The films was written and directed by Rich Christiano and the story really excels once we reach modern day. The time leading up to that point is slow and the acting and dialogue somewhat stilted. I know the dialogue was meant to reflect the speaking habits of the day, but the actors were not able to make all of those lines ring true.

One of the things I am adamant about when it comes to low budget films is that, to me, it is better to have the right unknown cast of actors than known actors miscast in lead roles. I am reluctant to find films with B-movie actors anything other than B-movies... the film may be more marketable in certain distribution areas with these B-movie actors, but having B-movie actors can often times limit the perceived excellence of the film. I think if you can make a low budget film with a great script and the right cast of unknown actors then you have a chance of accruing critical underdog status. This is a risky option because if you do not receive critical acclaim then you are left with a film less marketable than if you had had B-movie actors in your film. Its a paradox every low budget filmmaker must consider when putting together their project.

That being said, I found the casting of Time Changer with lesser "known" actors to be right on the mark, for the most part. Gavin MacLeod, Hal Linden, Jennifer O'Neill and Paul Rodriguez are well cast and their performances are quite good. D. David Morin struggles at times with the main character of Russel Carlisle, but really gets into his own in the fish-out-of-water moments when the story hits modern day.

Though not perfect, this film certainly is head and shoulders above almost all of the Christian films I've seen recently. It's a film that will spark a lot of conversation and should be watched by the whole family.

I only hope more Christian films will see this film and use the quality of this production as a starting point for their own films in the future.