WARNING: this may spoil something for those who don't GET IT! Read at your own risk!

Rating: Null/10 (18 April 2007)

Doesn't anybody understand the attempted complexity of this movie, the sub plot, which is the real story? It is not boy saves girl through arguably crazy science, with the rather contrived twist of going back into time! The HERO of the film is exactly that, the guy with the tat on his neck that says 'hero' and 'courage', Carroll Oerstadt...hello! Why do you think when he is being interrogated by Denzel's character he says 'I know things you don't know' and 'this will NEVER go to trial'? Why do you think that Val Kilmer's character knows Denzel will be back and has no issue with him jumping into the time machine to save the girl? This is a set up by the government from the start, including the bombing of the ferry and the induction of Denzel as a pawn in the game. That was not the FBI Denzel was working with, it was a special ops division of the government (CIA, NSA, etc.). And Carroll works for the MAN too, the government or the military. He already knows that he is a pawn and will ultimately be laying down his own life for this test. A test that will allow his government to change the course of history by altering the past and preventing terror in the future. He already knows that in the end he 'really' will not have killed hundreds of his military brothers ala the opening scene; that the course of history WILL be altered. Yes, he had to kill two or three people, but it is 'in the line of duty' if you will. It is ultimately Carroll who will die for this mission and he knows it in advance. He is the nameless hero.