Hannah's Pick: 12 Monkeys

It is Wednesday once again, so that means the movie reviewed will be one that has been recommended (and supplied) by my sister in-law, Hannah.  This time around it is the 1995 sci-fi thriller 12 Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt.  It is a film that I had wanted to take in for a long time, and I was not sure if it would happen ever since it disappeared off of Netflix's lineup a few months ago.

The premise of the movie is that a virus kills most of the human race, leaving the survivors to continue existing underground in a semi-steampunk sort of environment.  The task of the survivors is to determine the source of the virus so a cure could be made.  Convicted criminal James Cole (Willis) is 'volunteered' to gather information from the surface, and upon returning is promoted to shooting from the hip style of time travel that can not guarantee the exact time the traveler will arrive in.  When Willis arrives in 1990 (six years before the outbreak which he was supposed to investigate) he is brought into a mental institution (on account of claiming he is from the future) where he meets Jeffrey Goines (Pitt) who befriends Cole.  From this point on, it is an up and down experience for Cole, as he tries to piece together the facts about the attack, as well as personal memories that he has of that time.

This is one crazy movie, I will say that right away.  It focuses on sane people who are crazy, crazy people who think they are sane, and a story line that starts to blur those lines of sanity.  Director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) does what he can to ensure that the balance of sanity is not portrayed only by the actors, but through the style of shooting as well.  In the scenes where insanity is around (or knocking on the doorstep) he uses different camera angles and framing than he does during the calmer points of the movie.  I think he teeters on the point of over-indulgence with the crooked camera shots, but it never got to the point of being overly distracting.  Sometimes, perhaps, directors try to rely on the talent to portray all of the emotions so it is nice when someone tries to use all of the tools at their disposal to communicate to the audience.

As far as the acting goes, Brad Pitt brings the same level and enthusiasm for un-restrained insanity as Gilliam.  There is no hesitance at all with him in this role, and he becomes the focal point of almost every scene he is in.  If mental stability is the north pole, Brad Pitt is the south.  His portrayal of Jeffrey Goines earned him an Oscar nomination, and rightly so, because it is a stand out performance.

Another aspect that this film commits heavily to is the feel and atmosphere of the future.  From the costumes, to the rooms, nothing was looked over for creating a setting that had no reminder of the present that we know.  The environment takes us off guard and leaves us open and accepting of the reality that it has created.  It is easy to ask the audience for some suspension of disbelief if the physical setting itself looks as bat-shit crazy as the people in the film.  That is exactly what it does: the visuals that are void of familiarity open our doors for acceptance of things like time travel and humanity ending viruses.

I just keep coming back to the style of shooting, though.  As I said, it boarders on over-indulgence and perhaps that is what is keeping me from being just head over heels for this film.  I do think that a bit more restraint would have been fine, as I did feel a little assaulted at times with the 'throw you off your guard' style of shooting.  And the monkey music didn't quite do it for me.  Please do not think that these are monstrous issues that I had with this movie, it is just that they were present enough to keep this from being a perfect four star film.

Those minor qualms aside, this is a terrific movie.  If you like calm and sane, you very well may have a hard time with 12 Monkeys.  It is a journey in itself, an all out assault on sanity at times, without the drug-trip feel that some movies take.  While there may be some end moments that are a bit predictable, it is worthy of the time spent to arrive at the conclusion.  It is good, ole sci-fi fun.  The best thing about it is that if you ever feel like you are starting to lose your mind, this film will leave you feeling like a model of sanity.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

not only is it different in feel, but is also in a way that allows the beginning of the question of sanity

Hannah's Pick: Source Code

My amazing sister in-law, Hannah, recently passed a number of movies my way (most of which I had not yet seen) for me to check out and review.  In honour of her support of my blog, Wednesdays will now be 'Hannah's Pick,' as I will go through her offerings until the well worn shopping bag they came in is empty.  It is an earlier blog for me today, as I was sent home from work when I offered to come in for the night shift tonight and help out.  I napped a full fifteen minutes already, but something tells me that may be all the sleep I get until sometime after 7am tomorrow.  I will definitely be showing up for work double fisting the coffees.

Today's movie is Source Code, a film that I had heard good things about from friends and have been intrigued about for a while.  My interest was sent into overdrive a few months ago when I saw Moon, a sci-fi flick that was the debut for writer/director Duncan Jones, who would then go on to direct Source Code.  When watching Moon, a great appreciation grew for the story telling style of Jones, who is able to guide the audience through complex stories while keeping them simple enough to comprehend, and that allows us good emotional connection to the characters.  If I talked positively about Sam Rockwell in yesterday's review of The Way, Way Back, just wait until I review Moon and you will hear me gush over this under-appreciated actor.

Source Code stars Jake Gyllenhaal who plays the role of helicopter pilot Captain Colter Stevens, who awakens on a train, in mid conversation with a woman he has never seen before (Christina, played by Michelle Monaghan).  From this point on in the movie, we slowly get an unraveling plot as Captain Stevens tries to figure out his situation and the true depths of it.  He quickly finds out that quantum physics has allowed a program to be created that will allow Stevens to re-live the last eight minutes of someone's life, and that he is being inserted into the final moments of the victim of a terrorist attack on a train in order to find the bomber's identity.

 The acting in this film is really well done, and that seems to be something that Duncan Jones realizes is important when spinning an elaborate yarn.  It is possible for an audience to suspend disbelief and dredge through the unknown when we feel a connection to the outcome of the characters.  Gyllenhaal does a wonderful job showing the wide range of emotions his character goes through while constantly having to experience the same eight minutes only to perish in a terrible explosion each time.  Michelle Monaghan is great in her role as the stranger in the train that Gyllenhaal continually meets in his efforts to find the bomber.  As well, Oscar nominated actress Vera Farmiga delivers a terrific performance as Captain Goodwin, the face on a monitor who coaches Gyllenhaal between trips in the source code.  Because she is just a face on a screen, she needs to be able to portray any thoughts, emotions, or inner turmoil through small, nuanced alterations in her face, a task which she is able to accomplish extremely convincingly.

 Duncan Jones is really establishing himself as someone to watch, after only having directed two movies so far.  One of the skills evident in Source Code is that he is able to layer in deeper themes into a movie that is also enjoyable on a mere visceral level.  The film looks at living and existence, two terms that may seem to mean the same thing, but that are completely different.  What is someone willing to live for, willing to exist for, and willing to die for.  It is this theme that adds weight to the film, and is great fodder for conversations with friends over coffee.  It is an aspect that is woven into the fabric of the movie, and is not overtly shoved in our faces and left us dizzy from being bashed over the head with it, as seems to be the method when some films attempt to include a 'deeper' meaning.

If you are a fan of science fiction, you will most likely love Source Code.  If you claim that you are not a fan of science fiction (much like my wife) but enjoy thrillers, you will most likely love Source Code.  In both this movie and Moon, Duncan Jones shows that the genre is not just about space ships and cyborgs, but is really just a canvas left destined for immersive imaginations.  It is a place where all things are possible, and Source Code makes the most of it, inserting Captain Colter Stevens into mystery for eight minutes at a time, forcing him to repeatedly live with those who are about to die, a man immortal thrust into the continual mortality of the people on the train.  Sound confusing?  Duncan Jones does a better job at delivering the story and the message, and that's a good reason for you to watch it.

Rating - 3.5 stars out of 4