James Vs His Future Self

Another potentially fraught thing here is having a genius-who-can’t-get-along-with-people physicist as a protagonist. It is a stereotype, but truth be told there are tons of physicists out there like that, so that’s ok. What offends me in movies is the shorthand, which is usually wrong (e.g., we don’t wear lab coats), and not taking the time to understand anything about how physicists actually speak, relate to each other, do science, or live their lives. James Vs. His Future Self gets it right most of the time and completely nails it in a few places. My favorite thing is Frances Conroy’s portrayal of Dr. Rowley. She’s wonderful as the head of the lab, and she’s almost exactly like a few physicists I know, from the look to the aloof attitude to the quite offbeat sense of humor. 

Jonas Chernick also does an excellent job of making his version of James pretty realistic. He’s brilliant, but not overly nerdy. He can come across as an a*s, but that’s basically because he doesn’t know any better. Cleopatra Coleman is wonderful as the romantic interest Courtney, and at portraying her as a physicist. The would-be romantic scenes between the two of them are very well written and acted, and the two have good chemistry together. That’s one of the things that elevates the movie from a by-the-numbers romantic comedy to something a little more memorable. 

Daniel Stern was great casting to play older James. A time-traveling genius is a nice counterpoint to his most famous role as a dim-witted burglar in Home Alone. He brings just the right amount of humanity, charisma, and warmth. In fact, he’s almost too good. I was left wondering how this version of James got to be so good with people if his whole problem with himself was that he was a lonely a*****e. It makes it kind of hard for us to root for the young, a*****e-ish James to destroy the old, friendly James. 

“…gets it right most of the time and completely nails it in a few places.”

I won’t spoil the ending, but I have to say the very last scene is fantastic. As the movie was nearing resolution, I was trying to figure out how it would end without going the obvious route. I have to say they surprised me, and the ending is perfect. 

James Vs. His Future Self goes down the well-worn path of a guy who needs help with romance, but it brings enough new to the game to keep it interesting. With a good script, good acting, and by treating physicists seriously, I found myself wrapped up in the story, and in the end, I had a massive grin on my face. 

James Vs. His Future Self screened at the 2020 Santa Barbara Film Festival.