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When it comes to productions from the United Kingdom, I have to admit I'm not really a fan for the most part. While we have made the occasional hit over the past few decades, I find the vast majority of what we make just doesn't really appeal to me. Our film industry is certainly big, but serves mostly the commercial world, as well as a few productions for Hollywood here and there. Basically, our film industry isn't really our own. Productions are highly expensive and what does get made takes a silly amount of luck or connections. I'd go as far as saying that even the television side here is living on borrowed time as people abandon live television in favour of streaming services with much high production budgets. All of this means that feature films made here in the United Kingdom are a rarity, even more so in the present as the international market holds more interest for obvious reasons. While we have a crazy amount of talent in our film industry, it just isn't really being utilised when it comes to features. And the money just isn't really there.

Over a decade ago now, our film industry seemed a bit more open to taking some risk, allowing different types of English productions to be made. Of course a big reason for this boom would have been the fame Edgar Wright was achieving with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Though these films are very grounded still. Very indie and with clear small budgets. Perhaps one or two recognisable faces with the rest being actors you likely have never seen nor will ever see again. To be honest, I actually like this part of it all. To see actors that I have no connection to prior, allowing their performances to be believable and immersive. Though we do have a fair number of celebrities that could fill the screen more often in the fiction side, I'm not too bothered there. Recently I wrote a review on Naked, an English film that is bleak beyond imagination, and I detailed the economic factors which plagued the United Kingdom, to which the struggles are still seen today. These each are reasons as to why films here are a rarity, and why, if any, they mostly come from London. Where all the money and excitement is; this the stories to be told.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is a film that is very much tied to a specific location, made very cheaply, but with a simple idea that it aims to explore with plenty of comedy to keep the ball rolling. From here I would say it isn't a great film, but an entertaining experience and nice surprise from 2007, given the context given above.

<center>**Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel**</center>

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For the most part, in typical English feature film fashion, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel takes place within a pub. A group of friends, one of which is just extremely nerdy and loves the idea of time travel. Coincidentally, they stumble across a portal through time, leading to a series of struggles to attempt to get back to the present. Much of the film being the ways in which the group attempts to stay clear of others, discovering the rules of time travel and how to avoid catastrophe that could result in their own existences coming to an end. With this limited location to deal with, and some weakness in the story, I didn't find it all that engaging. The general idea is solid; a group of friends that seem like the underdogs in society, thrown out of their comfort zones and into the task that results in a fight for not just their survival, but also those around them. As expected with a time travel film, a lot of it is the characters cycling back and forth between timelines, stumbling across themselves and bringing a loop to everything. 

The story really is something you don't really pay a lot of attention to. A lot of it ends up being sort of thrown to the side in favour of comedic moments. Though I wouldn't say it was a strong comedic film, but it had its moments. Much of the comedy coming from the odd nature of their adventure through time, as well as how they deal with it personally. Despite seeming like the underdogs, they're actually rather well equipped to deal with it all. Though their reactions to certain time periods and events still shows some shock. These characters are played by mostly unknown actors, aside from the slightly more famous Chris O'Dowd, who some might recognise from The IT Crowd and the occasional American film release here and there. For the most part, it's his performance that carries everything forward. He's the funnier character, the smarter one, and basically the actual main character. The rest sort of feel a bit void of personality and growth. Almost as if the group doesn't quite have any chemistry with their varying interests.

With time travel stories comes the unfortunate repetition that makes things a bit lazy and predictable. A lot of these films fail to really take the genre beyond where they is plenty of potential. And I think Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel suffers from this too, where it just doesn't really feel like it's going anywhere. I think this is due to the main location used: the pub. It's just such a lazy location for a film, and I think I'm generally tired of seeing English features use them as if they're some hub of life and culture. Usually, I can appreciate films that can tell a story within a small location, but it's not an easy thing to pull off. Ultimately, your attention just ends up elsewhere as everything grows all too familiar. The film does try to mix things up a bit by showing the passing of time and the ways in which the environment differs. It does work to some degree. Though the special effects and cheap set design are more distracting than immersive. I found it quite funny how they looked in the apocalyptic periods.

It isn't a bad film, but it's just painfully mediocre. A sort of standard in English films where budgets remain the crippling factor behind any creativity. I think it's hard to say whether it's worthy of your time or not. Part of me doesn't think it deserves to be buried in time, but it's also not really anything special that makes you feel as if that time was appreciated and justified. Perhaps to get a glimpse of what English cinema can be like, it might be worth it. But still, there's much better options out there if you're interested in that.

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