So you’re saying there’s a chance?

However high, or low, the possibility, Rush fans shouldn’t hold their breath for their beloved members of the famed Canadian rock group to return to the stage, though the door wasn’t exactly slammed shut during the documentary of Rush Time Stand Still shown nationwide on Thursday for one night only in select theaters around the country.

The much anticipated film chronicling what’s believed to be the band’s final major tour picked right up where R40 left off in 2015 – sold out – albeit in a movie theater. After an animated short and a 20 minute introduction titled “Salute to Kings” featuring interviews with Gene Simmons of KISS, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (with Nancy describing Rush music as a dog whistle only heard by males), and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, among others “Time Stand Still” began with a backdrop of the concert from Portland, OR and some haunting words from Rush bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee when he said walking away from it is not fun before cutting to Lee in the backseat of a car heading to the first show of the R40 tour.

Rush – Time Stand Still Documentary Review

Time Stand Still (available Nov. 18 on DVD and Blu-Ray) follows in the same vein as 2010’s Rush – Beyond the Lighted Stage but proved less about the band’s history, as the first documentary covered quite well, and more about now. Narrated by actor Paul Rudd, the film followed Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart from opening night in Tulsa, OK to the final show on Aug, 1, 2015 at The Forum in Los Angeles with various snippets and interviews in between.

A handful of super fans were featured including one gentleman with a 90-plus page of documented Rush memorabilia he owned, the founder of RushCon and one of the more emotional moments talked to fan George Summers from Scotland who survived a brutal car crash and used Rush’s music, specifically the fantastic “Everyday Glory,” (finally gets its due!) to help him through injury and recovery.

But the stars of this movie of course make up the stars of Rush. Lee, Lifeson and Peart re-told a few stories of the past – some rather comical – “The Bag” – others touching – Lifeson finding out the lead truck driver was getting married and stopped the caravan to bring some champagne and celebrate with the engaged couple in the cab – and one hilarious – the speed metal arrangement for “Subdivisions.” But most accounts discussed the rigors of touring, the love of the band from devotees and touring personnel, and a mostly unwilling embrace of the inevitable end.

Surely, time is the infinite jest on Rush and their fans.

Age knows no boundaries even when it comes to childhood heroes who seemingly return every few years like clockwork for nearly half a century. Peart struggled through a painful foot fungus during the R40 tour and Lee and Lifeson recounted seeing the drummer’s hands during the final shows which were cracked and calloused. The men laughed at their own expressive demeanor when it came to their personal pain threshold over the years but marveled at Peart’s stoicism. Lifeson, too, struggles with arthritis which Lee described as a ticking time bomb.

Time Stand Still neared tenebrific at times in terms of any future dates to the stage. Peart said he was done with touring after the band’s first tour. And, not until the Clockwork Angels tour did he feel happy about a tour. In fact, R40 was an 11th hour approval after the mates got together to discuss the band’s future – Peart was out with a slight window –  and it was Lifeson who said, “Let’s do it one more time” that fully opened it.  Lee appeared genuinely doleful, at times.

Time Stand Still was well-done and felt like a Part 2 or continuation of Beyond the Lighted Stage. Yet, Donna Halper, the woman credited for bringing Rush to the United States was nowhere other than a camera shot of a poster thanking her, and perhaps a bit too much time committed to the RushCon founder. You have to wonder who got left on the cutting room floor.

The end of touring enveloped the hour and 40 minute long film, yet, still no one broached the subject of Rush creating new music, a topic not asked or really discussed during interviews of the band members since their “retirement.” Lee and Lifeson have indicated a willingness to move forward together with Lee saying their music would sound like Rush without Neil. But writing and recording a new album is something easily done with today’s technology allowing Lee, Lifeson and Peart to collaborate from the comfort and confines of their own homes. If they so desire.

Indeed, a glimmer of hope remains to freeze the moment of Rush a little bit longer. “If there’s more there’s not a lot more,” said longtime manager Ray Danniels and as “The Garden” from Clockwork Angels somberly played while the cameras followed Lee and Lifeson off The Forum stage into the backroom, before the screen went black, Lifeson perhaps nudged the window slightly ajar.

But it wasn’t enough to diminish an overall presentiment of closure.