Review: Mr Nobody

Mr Nobody
Cert: 15 / 153 mins / Dir. Jaco Van Dormael



Have you ever heard somebody recommend a film, full of actors that you know and themes that you love, yet you've somehow never heard of it before then? For me, that's Mr Nobody. Of course, after watching it, I realise why this didn't play at my local. It's two and a half hours of exploratory rumination on cause, effect, choice, memory and identity. Deliberately vague with its questions and evasive with its replies, I loved every last minute.

The film is a sprawling examination of chaos theory. As things go on, the threads which make up the many lives of Mr Nobody get more tangled, and the narrative switches between and across them until you're not sure which story you're meant to be following. Which, I think*¹, is the point of the film; there is no one path. This, ladies and gentlemen, is 'a concentrator'. You're required to pay attention for the full two and a half hours. Don't tit about with your phone, and don't assume you can take a break in the middle and pick up where you left off. If I'm making it sound like hard work it really isn't, but the film doesn't spoon-feed you like many in its genre might.

Beautifully shot, scored*² and acted (with extra props to Thomas Byrne and Jared Leto as the youngest and oldest iterations of Nemo Nobody, respectively), it's a hazy, hypnotising joy to watch. There aren't many films which can make you think about Everything and do it without intellectual snobbery, but this is one of them. After watching the Mr Nobody*³, you might want to absorb the Wiki page. And then watch it again.

Just… enjoy it for the art is is, and don't expect all the answers.

"I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid I haven't been alive enough."

The trailer is the merest hint of what's contained in the film.



Yes.



When I get round to understanding all of it, I'll let you know.



Buy. You're going to want to watch it more than once..



Probably.



Yes.



There isn't.

So if it's tails, we get drunk yeah?

*¹ Opinion, obviously. It's a beautifully open-ended film.
*² And the use of the same version of Mister Sandman as in Back To The Future was a welcome addition, too :)
*³Not much point in reading it before. Not because of spoilers, it just won't make a lot of sense. Watch the trailer as prep.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a 'catch-up' review. I watched this film at home, not at the cinema. I saw the trailer for this at the cinema, and I would have seen the film there too, but they didn't/couldn't show it. So now iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Blockbuster get to reap the rewards of my local's advance-advertising, and I'm sure they're delighted. Now you may say "oh come on, they can't show everything down there", and that would be a valid point if they didn't do things like running Taken 2 for six weeks. Was it that successful? No, I don't think so. Twilight? Batman? Les Mes? Sure, go for it; if they're pulling the punters in then keep making that money. But Taken 2? I ask you. Anyway, this is essentially a DVD review, but still of a new(ish) film. There. I'm glad that's sorted.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.

Review: The Host

The Host
Cert: 12A / 125 mins / Dir. Andrew Niccol



The film about the dystopian future, aliens inhabiting human bodies, the underground of human survivors and unilateral trust issues is quite good. I mean, it's made up of aspects that have been used countless times elsewhere, but it does work within its boundaries.

On the other hand, the film about 'oh, I don't know if I like this guy, or that guy, it's so difficult being an indecisive girl!' just made me want to punch someone in the mouth. It's not even constant; it just seems to get slotted in every 12 minutes or so, which is somehow worse. I understand that it's part of the reason the plot resolves itself, but it could have been handled so much better. Parts of the actual script infuriated me with their clichéd tweeness, but I can't deny that I was hooked and willing the story along (often with this script, you'll find yourself willing it along just to think about anything other than what's being said aloud).

All of The Bad Guys™ wear crisp white uniforms, live in minimalist cubes and make constant reference to The Puny Humans™, whereas the humans in question have essentially gone back to the earth, metaphorically and literally as they've developed an subterranean farm to go with their rounded group of stereotypes. There's an efficient amount of psychological button pushing to ensure you don't side with The Puny Humans™ completely, but you're also frequently reminded that The Bad Guys™ are exactly that. A parable for immigration? From anyone else, maybe, but doubt this goes that deep.

I know, so far it sounds awful, doesn't it? Well, a massive hat-tip goes to Saoirse Ronan who manages to carry the whole thing so ably. Much of the film consists of watching her talk to herself as Melanie/Wanda (the human/alien segments of her brain), and as incredible as this sounds, not only does she pull it off with ease, it's actually one of the highlights of the film. Given how pedestrian the whole thing should be, she really is outstanding. I wanted the relationship between the aliens and human hosts explored more thoroughly, but I don't know if the lack of that is down to Meyer's novel or Niccol's screenplay.

So, is Roman outstanding enough to make the film great? Sadly not. Diane Kruger puts in a solid turn as Melanie/Wanda's nemesis, Seeker, but it's not enough to save it from comfortable mediocrity. As is so often the case with this 'genre'*¹, it's ideal for audiences who haven't seen a lot of sci-fi. Call me snobby if you want, I'll only agree with you.

The bottom line: Saoirse Ronan saves this, completely.
It's Bodysnatchers for the Twilight generation, but give them a break, everyone's got to start somewhere…

That one's representative of the worst aspect of the film. Does that help?



About half the time.



In the end, yes.



DVD.



No.



Probably not. Unless I want to play catchup before a sequel.



No.



It's a weak 5, but a 5 nonetheless.


*¹ By which I mean, Twilight, Hunger Games, I Am Number Four, you know the kind of thing.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.