Just as Jeff finally finds a job as a driver for U-Lift, his car breaks down, and he is helped by a homeless man, Harry, to push it away from the street. The next day, Jeff's girlfriend Samantha informs Jeff that her friend left for a visit to India, and thus left his car to her, so she gives it to Jeff so that he can drive again. As a reward, Jeff gives Harry a couple of dollars. Later, Jeff is surprised when he finds ten times more dollars in the back of his new car. Some time later, when meeting him again on the street, Jeff gives Harry some food. Later, Jeff finds ten times more food in the back of his car. Samantha and Jeff realize that they they will be recouped ten times for what ever they give out to anyone, not just Harry, while driving that specific car. A woman with a gun takes some money from Jeff. Later, he drops off a gangster, but finds a bag in the back of the car, containing a million $. Samantha and Jeff are overwhelmed, but the gangster calls them, claiming they stole his money. Jeff is forced to give the gangster the money to save his life. He had a small statue of Shani, the god of karma.
Independent fantasy drama "Instant Karma" is a gentle contemplation on whether people do good deeds only because they know they will get some sort of a reward for it, or if they do good deeds out of their own honest, altruistic conviction. The basic premise—a car magically reimburses the driver Jeff tenfold for every item he gives out to someone—is intruiguing, acting almost as some sort of a "guaranteed investement", and has a certain degree of awe and excitement in the first half. The movie has some neat little details and artistic touches, such as the supporting character of the homeless Harry who has a few humorous signs on the street (such as "Blah, blah, blah...Money... Blah, blah, blah... Food... Who reads signs anyway? Please help" or "My wife told me to wait here. That was 10 years ago") or the idea that singer Josh West enters Jeff's car and accepts to sing to Samantha on the iPhone, upon which the movie transitions elegantly from the lyrics Josh West sings live to the lyrics Josh West sings in the song in the music montage, in which Jeff driving the car and giving items to Harry. The cinematography is great, using several drone shots which give the movie a modern look. However, the story loses steam in the middle, effectively not being able to "squeeze" much more out of this concept in the second half. The remaining plot rides on a repetitive wave, since there are no more surprises or further versatile takes on said plot, except in the strange finale, where the movie suddenly shifts to a crime film, which feels shoehorned. Despite giving the movie intensity, this crime finale came way too late into the story to feel like it fits, and instead feels more like an "intruder". Though it has a clever little trick: a gangster tells Jeff he has the chance to pick his own outcome on a piece of paper—on one paper, it is written "Let you go", and on the other, "Kill you". However, the gangster writes down "Kill you" on both papers. Jeff, however, outfoxes him when he picks one paper, and eats, claiming that since the other paper has "Kill you" written on it, he must have picked the "Let you go" paper. While it could have been more inspired in exploiting all the potentials of the concept, "Instant Karma" offers some thoughtful observations on balance in the world, selfishness, honesty, and righteousness.
Grade:++
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