Heartland: Free Time
There's worse ways to spend your free time than with this cringey comedy.
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It took me a while to vibe with what it is “Free Time” is doing, but once I did I was handsomely rewarded by a comedy with incisive ideas about youth … whether misspent, waning or both.
Drew (Colin Burgess) is a dweeby dude in his late 20s. He hastily decides to quit his unfulfilling office job assuming other opportunities are just around the corner … they aren’t.
Drew busies himself by sulking around the apartment he shares with his roommate Rajat (Rajat Suresh) much to the annoyance of Rajat’s girlfriend Kim (Holmes). He figures this newfound time can be dedicated to the band fronted by Michael (Michael Patrick Nicholson) in which he plays keys, but the group is moving in a new (read: keyless) direction. Romantic overtures Drew makes to old friend Laura (Rebecca Bulnes) and an acquaintance’s neighbor (Jessie Pinnick) land with a resounding thud.
“Free Time” as written and directed by Ryan Martin Brown is the personification of cringe comedy. I didn’t especially like Burgess’ Drew (frankly, I frequently wanted to shake the sh*t outta him), but I often found him humorous even if a lot of the laughs got caught in my throat.
The film takes an amusing and surprising turn in its final third, which I won’t spoil here. It also opens and closes with some bitchin’ late 1970s/early 1980s credits. If you can get on its wavelength (and are OK with cringey comedy), there’s certainly worse ways to spend your free time than with “Free Time.”