TIME OUT OF MIND – Not Rated

From Writer/Producer and Director Oren Moverman comes a dark and intensely poignant drama about one of our countries saddest state of affairs ~ HOMELESSNESS.

Richard Gere heads an all-star cast playing George ~ the homeless man struggling on the streets, but with a past that included a loving family and a great job. That is until, by no fault of his own, he looses his job, and shortly thereafter, his beautiful wife to Cancer, sending him and his little girls lives into shambles.

A decade of struggle since has altered his mental state significantly, but George is still able to find new and inventive ways to acquire his daily dose of alcohol, which is also attributing to him life spinning out of control…

Forced to seek residence in a shelter for a few nights ~or maybe longer~ George meets Dixon (Ben Vereen), a fellow homeless guy who has been around the block a time or two in shelters all throughout the city~ and he knows the lay of the land in order to make sure the shelters will take him and George in night, after night…

Still trying to find solace in his life on the streets, while attempting to reconnect with his daughter Maggie (Jena Malone) too, George just can’t seem to pull himself out of his miserable existence, no matter how hard he tries…

I give TIME OUT OF MIND a rating of: WAIT AND CATCH THIS ONE ON NETFLIX: Even though Richard Gere’s performance is admirable as the “just a normal guy” hitting a rough patch that never seems to end, and Ben Vereen is good too in his small, but significant role ~ sadly, this film just seemed to drag on, and on, and on. I realize the subject matter and material is no “walk in the park” but it seems as if we just kept retelling the same storyline over, and over, and over. Other fantastic actors like Steve Buscemi and Kyra Sedgwick make semi-memorable cameo appearances too, but even their scenes couldn’t entice me to get more enthusiastic about viewing this film. As I personally have many views on the homelessness in our midst ~ and feel that our government shouldn’t be sending one single dollar overseas until homelessness is nothing but a faint memory in our society~ I also feel that this film, and its slight touch on mental illness and homelessness as a whole, is doing nothing more than skimming the surface of the real and tragic existence that people in every city in our nation must face everyday. My hope is that is will inspire the dialogue needed to make the significant changes needed in our society, but, I not optimistic their either…

Kathy Kaiser