The independent oddity The 4th Dimension is a promising, if not entirely successful, debut for co-directors Tom Mattera and Dave Mazzoni, whose proficient style manages to hide a deficit of substance until the film falls apart in its final sequence. The movie tells the story of an antique-store employee and loner, Jack, for whom time seems to break down when he receives an old clock from a mysterious woman. A brilliant young man obsessed with Einstein's Unified Field Theory, Jack enters a state of consciousness in which the boundaries between past, present, and dreams seem to collapse; at the same time, flashbacks to Jack's troubled childhood coexist with present-day events in a fluid, surreal manner. This premise allows the filmmakers to convey a sense of total stasis in Jack's life; he seems literally frozen in time, and his emotional imprisonment is made literal by the physical confines of some impressively claustrophobic sets.
Trailer | The 4th Dimension Movie
Trailer | Carl Sagan 4th Dimension Explanation
