Written and directed by Ryan Martin Brown, approaching the end of his twenties and his relative youth, a man decides to quit his cushy desk job and ’embrace life’ – only to realize he has no idea what to do with this newfound freedom. Starring: Colin Burgess, Rajat Suresh, Holmes, James Webb, Jessie Pinnick, Rebecca Bulnes, Steve Young and Bardia Salimi.
We can all agree that work can be dull, repetitive and take the fun out of eight or so hours of your day for a good portion of the week, so why bother? Why not soar off into the sunset to enjoy what remains of your youth? Well, that’s exactly where Drew (Colin Burgess) starts off his journey, packing in the daily grind for a life of leisure, how he’ll fill or fund that life, he is haphazardly going to find out. Ryan Martin Brown gives us a great exploration of the dream versus reality, striving for freedom and then having absolutely no clue how to sustain it or even truly enjoy it.
It’s quirky and unusual but also surprisingly relevant, you wouldn’t be hard pressed to find a young man, or woman, out in the world much like him. It has a low-key sense of humour and charmingly meanders through the story, with an ingrained awkwardness which is unexpectedly enjoyable. However, the climax to this eccentric adventure is left so much to the last minute, that it’s dealt with like a punch line, as if it should be followed by a ba dum tss. It works but rounds out Free Time in a fairly unsatisfying way.
However, Burgess is ridiculously consistent, being constantly aware of the line between making Drew entitled, unaware and irritating versus detestable and infuriating, never crossing too far into the latter. He holds onto a sympathetic edge which is no small feat with a character like this, one who has very little direction, is completely unaware of his own actions and how he makes the people around feel. Blessing him this naivety of being blissfully ignorant of his own self-destruction. There’s also a great ensemble behind him who help to boost Free Time’s comedy and add variety.
Free Time is a very interesting interpretation of desire and entitlement versus reality, giving up the idea of balance in favour of unlimited freedom, while forgetting what cost it comes at. Exploring an impetuous and egoistic young man on his journey to be reunited with a sense of realism. One who is excellently portrayed by Colin Burgess, who impressively makes Drew such a fun character despite being a complete jerk. There’s a great ensemble at work, the comedy is well done, it has a nostalgic aesthetic and though it does leave its resolution a little too late, it’s also highly original.
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