A simple mistake can change everything — from a misplaced comma in a letter to a typo in a prescription. That’s exactly the kind of trouble Jace runs into during his frantic shift delivering packages for AmaZen (yes, it’s a little on the nose, but we’ll allow it — this is a comedy, after all).
Jace will surely get a bonus if he manages to stay on the top of the list of delivering personnel. He just has to be quick, deliver everything on time, and at the right address. It should be something easy, right?
But as Duran Jones’ execution of his idea will let you know, Jace faces… difficulties. In Time is Money, Jones doesn’t subject Jace to the improbable. He just materializes the errors that come with distraction (and a little day-dreaming). Jace misdelivers a package, and his soulless supervising app wastes no time letting him know he’s failed. The fallout? Broken bones, lost teeth, and a dream deferred. Jace won’t be making that feature film anytime soon. Hollywood remains a distant mirage. For now, he’s stuck sweating under the California sun, peeing in a bottle while eating a cookie — and yes, at the same time.
Bruce Lemon delivers a superb rendition of the modern working class dude. The one that’s forced to drive around and deliver random packages for those who comfortably sit inside their homes and have become the villains of this story. Sure, Jace confronts the reality of the unscrupulous corporation he works for, but in the end, it’s all part of a system. AmaZen is a bit informal, because going further would bring… issues, but the message is still there. Jace’s real struggle? Meeting basic expectations under punishing pressure, with little margin for error and zero forgiveness when he slips. When he does fail, he doesn’t even have time to re-center. He only has to keep going.
And yet, the film never loses its humor. Jace proclaims, “I don’t care what Letterboxd or Rotten Tomatoes gotta say, my film speaks to real people.” And he’s right. Jones doesn’t name whose story this is based on, but it doesn’t matter — the universality is clear. The film got funnier every time I saw it, and it was because I saw Jace’s struggle as the struggle we all face while living in the grinding ecosystem that is Hollywood. I’m not exactly part of it, but I’m also affected by some inevitable and inexplicable changes that the industry creates for itself, and which cause the worst for the working man, the ones that don’t get the support of corporations. The one that can’t possibly be on the top 10 of most important movies or filmmakers.
Jones previously directed the 2022 short film Hallelujah (also starring Lemon), a religious experience that I had to talk to him about, and almost thank him for it. Yes, some stories are so well told that I personally choose to thank those who tell them. Today I get the pleasure of watching his award-winning short which is making people talk at Cannes, and all I can say is you have to watch out for this guy. I said it before, and I’ll say it now. I need to see what he does next.
Time is Money recently won two awards: Best Actor and Best Director at the 16th Annual Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase.
Film critic. Lover of all things horror. Member of the OFCS. RT Approved Critic.
