The Future (2011)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Don't Believe the Hype

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I was fortunately able to see this film free with my Amazon Prime membership. Though I like Hamish Linklater, I would not have or am grateful that I never saw this film in a theater. Maybe it is an inspired indie film piece. Maybe it is artistic film festival fare. All I felt was that I could not keep watching this film and turned it off after less than a half hour but returned to watch it in parts until the end. I was actually looking for an escapist SF film that would be fantasy and uplifting. Not since "Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" had a film so depressed me. Maybe I don't understand indie flicks or comedies that are really something else but funny. Here is a wacky urban 30-something couple existing in their world and making a mess of it. They decide to adopt a cat but can not handle the responsibility so they suddenly decide to do what they feel -- which is selfish, pointless and ultimately irresponsible. The only SF factor was the ability to stop time and the universe suddenly is in a mannequin challenge. The depressing part is their lack of genuine feeling and mutual love for each other and obviously for the cat. It is a modern world where they are more into their laptops more than each other. Today, the same may be said of smartphones where people ignore each other except through typing which is what I am doing now. More depressing. What does the real future hold in store for human interaction? The future, yeah, right.

"The Future" is an excellent, surreal, cold comedy in the tradition of the great Spike Jonze & Charlie Kaufman films "Adaptation", "Being John Malkovich" and the brain-blasting "Synecdoche NY"."Cold comedy" is a term I just made up to describe the way they make me feel. They make me laugh, but I also feel an uneasy chill up my spine. Maybe it's because the underlying story is somewhat cynical, with a chilly, brooding philosophy of life. But these films manage to poke fun of this hopeless condition in a way that tickles your funny bone.I preface this review with a warning. As often, whoever wrote the DVD packaging is an idiot. This is definitely NOT a "whimsical romantic comedy" or whatever they advertise. So if you're expecting something cute & fun like "When Harry Met Sally", you might want to move on. Instead, what we get is a very, VERY oddball farce centered around a young clueless couple. If you liked "(500) Days of Summer" which, itself, is prefaced with the narration "This is not a love story", then keep reading because you'll probably like this movie too.If you're an animal lover, particularly someone who has rescued a dog or cat from the local pound, you'll be drawn in instantly. The story begins through the eyes of a stray cat "Paw Paw" in a shelter, nervously waiting to be adopted by the couple before time runs out. The voice of the cat becomes the voice of wisdom throughout the film. I've never seen a film that takes such a thoughtful & innocent approach as through the eyes of a raggedy, injured cat waiting at the pound.The first half of the movie is so bizarrely funny, with such unique characters living in their private bizarre bubble, it feels something like "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". But now imagine "Bill & Ted" if it were directed by French New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. Starting to get the picture...? In the director's commentary on the DVD, writer/director/star Miranda July calls this a very "still" movie. There are long breaks between characters speaking. There is a lot of silence, allowing us to soak in the depth of the moment. She jokes about one scene where the leading man dramatically rips off his headphones, and she calls it the big action scene, the equivalent of a car crash in this movie. Haha.The slow, deadpan delivery makes the humor even more pervasive. I laughed out loud several times in the first half. But midway through the movie, the mood shifts suddenly and drastically. The remaining half is no longer a comedy but more like a soul-searching philosophical adventure. At first I hated the unexpected change (as the title of this review implies) because I was really enjoying the oddball comedy.But, as the recurring theme of the movie implies, "the beginning" is only temporary. Life changes drastically. Love changes drastically. The plot, theme and mood of the film illustrate this perfectly. I can't say much more without ruining the story, so just be ready for anything. Ride this crazy roller-coaster to the end.The acting and particularly the casting is flawless. The chemistry between the two leads, Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) is so perfect you'd think they're soulmates in real life. Another excellent piece of casting is Joe Putterlik who plays the old man. He is NOT an actor! Miranda found him while answering an ad in the Pennysaver classifieds, and she was so taken by his authenticity that she cast him in the role.Another thing I really enjoyed was the great use of symbolism. You have to pay close attention, or even see the movie twice like I did, to catch most of it. Especially in the 2nd half when things become very poetic and sublime, you have to be on your toes.If you like surreal comedy, like the films I mentioned earlier, films by Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "The Science of Sleep"), the early Johnny Depp flick "Arizona Dream", the Paul Giamatti comedy "Cold Souls", or maybe even the grandfather of modern surreal comedy "Catch 22", don't hesitate to see this movie. See them all. Whenever I stumble on a film like this, I'm reminded that cinema is a true art form.

I can't decide if this film was good or horrible, the problem is that which way i sway depends on Miranda July's intentions. If she set out to make a story about two of the most loathsome characters not in a horror movie, whom you want to end up together, solely so that they have to suffer each other for the remainder of their days. with the added extra that you feel compelled to punch the next hipster you come across, then she has done a very good job. However, I can't shake the feeling that although she was intending for the couple to be unlikable, she did want us to have some level of sympathy for them. Sorry, not feeling a thing. The only person i felt sorry for was the daughter of Marshall, and the cat obviously. The cat is the star, and Ms July shows her talent with the way she presents it's thoughts and moods. So if she was trying to highlight the human race as a plague upon the Earth, then kudos to you. Otherwise, stop the world, i want to get off.

This film carried a review on the box which described it at 'loaded with laugh out loud lines' so we settled down to watch expecting some light hearted American (so not too side splitting) whimsical comedy which had something to do with a cat....... the dialogue was dreadful, the characters mumble and make it hard to non Americans to understand what they were saying but worst of all the cat's story was totally heart breaking - this is no 'laugh out loud' film it's dark and only serves to point up the awful selfishness of human beings. Everyone starts off miserable and they all end up worse off - particularly the cat! Don't watch it if you are a cat/animal lover, in fact don't watch it all unless you are contemplating suicide and need that 'extra push'.