I struggled through this bit of Canadiana and truthfully got more from reading the synopsis afterwards than the movie itself. I think the biggest problem with this Indie drama is that nothing is explained; when is this taking place? Where is this remote location? What exactly is a timekeeper? What railroad are they building? All these things would have helped me get into this movie, as it was my favorite scene involved the men 'dump' diving with some bears and the Johnny Cash song played (Long Time) during one of the scenes -not a good sign. And what the hell was Roy Dupuis doing here, his character (and fake beard) were a mess. 02.28.14 FYI (and for my information) Set in 1964, this follows Martin Bishop (Craig Olejnik), a highly moral young man, as he attempts to work alongside a railway construction crew in the Northwest Territories.

Although set in NWT, it looks like credit goes to Quebec for getting their logo into the film credits. So I can't change my opinion that pretty much the only good films in Canada get funded by Quebec, and apparently this is now true even if the language is English.I checked out the reviews, and I seem to be in the minority. I've visited the north, but not that far, and I never lived or worked there. If there's an inside joke to this film, I didn't get it. It seemed like a straightforward tale of the ideal young man sent to straighten out the evil slave driver, and free the helpless slaves. It's a common-enough story, but why not retell it, if it can be told well?There are some truly goofy things in it that take away from it, like the "garbage eater" stuff. I'm fairly sure more colourful language would have been used, and as other comments noted, if they could share trash with a bear, they could probably also find other food to eat, less risky. Even I can find things to eat in the wild, without much effort. And of course, no person is THAT good and THAT lucky and THAT smart all of the time. Interesting heroes have flaws.But on the whole, there's a lot to like. I like that some of the characters might randomly kill someone, or are otherwise bizarre. That's reality, now isn't it? The scenery is beautiful, as is Craig. I did not find the details of the story predictable, so the journey was interesting. The story has a good Canadian quality that is absent from so much of Canadian film. You can tell it's from here AND it is set here, but it doesn't make you want to stab your eyes out. I don't get to say that often enough.I think this film was aiming a bit higher (or could have) but it's 7/10 for me, which is a great score for English-language Canadian film.

My two fellow reviewers, we are certainly concerned to give due recognition to all things "up north." And we desire beyond a doubt to recognize films put together in places we know by people like ourselves. To say The Timekeeper(2009) may not win Genie is going too far! Both the inventor of this film's drunken bum dialogue - Samuel Beckett - and his protégé in the theatre who invented the post-dialogue world of aimless thugs - Harold Pinter - they both won the NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE. So, here we are, take a look at your lifetime expectations - "As my father used to say, a man can lose everything, and then have nothing." We are living in Harold Pinter's universe. Some of it's features are 1) garbled conversation as it would sound tape-recorded from real life, 2) an uninterrupted feeling of menace that 3) explodes sometimes into pointless violence. This brings us to an explanation of why my two fellow reviewers thought The Timekeeper an unfamiliar movie to most people. There's no sex in it. There aren't even ANY WOMEN.

Any one who has moved to the north at a young and innocent age and worked for a boss who's motives are not always pure will understand this movie. People who have not lived here may find it a stretch, but anyone who has met an elder who doesn't speak any English, anyone who has "dump-ster dived" because they couldn't afford groceries, anyone who has felt at times trapped by the remoteness of this land, will understand this movie. Unfortunately, not enough care is taken explaining the culture, the remote location, or the characters in the movie and so unless you are privy to the inside joke, you may very well miss a good story.