The
stakes are usually astronomical in science fiction involving alternate
universes. In contrast, the love of one woman might sound like small potatoes,
but it means everything to Todd—and also to Other Todd. The alternate Todd
never got over the death of their beloved Lucy, so he manages to switch places
with the Todd of our world, so he can be with her again. Our Todd is more
slackery, but love will motivate him in Rob Schulbaum’s The Wrong Todd (trailer here), which premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival.
Regular
World Todd has rarely left Providence and never been outside New England, but
that has always been his preference. Therefore, he reacts badly when his
girlfriend Lucy tells him she wants to accept a promotion in Seattle. He will
regret his churlishness, because Other Todd is about to bonk him over the head
and send him back to his Other universe.
Of
course, Lucy is quite surprised to find her supposed Todd is now
super-attentive and eager to support her career decisions. In contrast, the
displaced Todd is totally surprised to find his best friend, Lucy’s schlubby brother
Dave is suddenly weirdly responsible and married to Lucy’s contemptuous bestie,
Abby. They also keep telling him Lucy is dead, so he’d better finally come to
terms with it.
Right,
how do you cross over into different universes? A mad scientist has a portal in
his RV. This is definitely lo-fi science fiction, but it is the relationships
that matter, not the special effects. Even though Wrong Todd is being positioned as a sf rom-com, it is shockingly sweet
and touching. Think Somewhere in Time with
some physical comedy.
Jesse
Rosen shows tremendous flexibility differentiating the two Todds, while still
suggesting core commonalities. Sean Carmichael exhibits even greater extremes
as Dave (the loafing loser everyone will want to slap) and Other Dave, who has
some deeply poignant moments discussing his grief over Lucy’s death. Nicely
playing opposite him, Erin Rose brings some wonderfully sly attitude to Abby
and Other Abby. Anna Rizzo portrays Lucy as a smart, independent woman (even
though she is involved with Todd), which is somewhat refreshing in both
rom-coms and science fiction (but alas, there is only one of her).
