Review: 'The Color of Time' starring James Franco, Jessica Chastain, Mila Kunis, and More

Imagine you're an NYU film student and, amazingly, you're going to be working on a feature film with Jessica Chastain, James Franco, and Mila Kunis. Pretty awesome, right? Now imagine their disappointment to learn the film would be another of Franco's "passion projects" nobody will ever want to watch. That's the case with The Color of Time, a biographical impression of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, CK Williams, directed by twelve of Franco's students as a narrative recreation of his work. It makes sense that fledgling talents would be a little unsure stylistically, much like their teacher, but the result is disjointed and trivial, and probably should have stayed in the classroom.

Hopping around in time to follow Williams at various life stages, he's played by a handful of actors including Franco and Henry Hopper. Taking the counter-intuitive route, a straight narrative is opted for rather than some kind of anthology with Williams' poems serving as the throughline. None of it amounts to much other than a series of bland flashbacks with sparse dialogue, and apparently Franco must have taught an extensive course on Terrence Malick. Right down to Chastain prancing in the grass under sun-drenched skies as Williams' angelic mother, her scenes are basically a shot-for-shot homage to The Tree of Life. Unfortunately, the other periods in Williams' life turn out much the same with each director aping the style of a different filmmaker they've probably long admired. It's distracting, especially if the ultimate goal is to put us closer in touch with Williams' elegant words. The Color of Time  is essentially a series of cinematic postcards; beautiful but meaningless.

Also starring Zach Braff as Williams' best friend, Mila Kunis as his bubbly wife, plus an appearance by Bruce Campbell, there's certainly a wealth of talent here and they all bring a soulfulness to their performances. Best of all may be Kunis, who brings a levity and lightness that cuts through the droll mood. Fans of Williams who have found his poetry inspiring and profound will wish for more experienced directors who could bring that into being on screen. It's possible that in this group is the next Quentin Tarantino or Terrence Malick, but they aren't ready for the big leagues yet and The Color of Time is proof of that.

 Rating: 1.5 out of 5