Mr. Nobody(2009)

*****

Thanks to this man, you're still alive.

I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I've never seen The Godfather—the film that sparked my interest and appreciation for the art of cinema. I probably won't be writing/typing any of these at all. And so you're probably not wasting 5 minutes of your time right now reading any of these pieces of shit. You're possibly doing something else. You could instead be on your way to a grocery store or somewhere. You're probably crossing the street right at this moment instead. Then there's the possibility that you got hit by a car on your way there. BOOM! You could have been DEAD right now! But thanks to Coppola, you're not.

What really could've happened?

Well, all we could do right now is ponder and wonder, over and over, and ask the question "what if?" A question that is sure to have been asked for at least once in an entire life of almost every human being.
What if?

And so there's the enigma that is the Butterfly Effect.

It is one of the themes in the recent science fiction movie by Jaco Van Dormael, Mr. Nobody, which stars Jared Leto as Nemo Nobody. The film tackles various mysteries and theories that surrounds us such as the aforementioned Butterfly Effect, The Big Bang Theory, The Second Law of Thermodynamics (alright, sorry, my fault) or in layman's terms, "the tendency of a system to assume a state of greater disorder", the string theory, time, space, memory and more. Furthermore, in the film, humans already achieved immortality through advancement in technology in the year 2092 AD. I find the film's complex narrative and mystifying themes quite cool and appealing. It was able to smoothly accomplish presenting its broad subjects and still be compelling enough for its viewers. It also managed to maintain coherence amidst the film's story which supposedly occurred at various parallel time lines and is told in an intricately structured plot. These time lines were contrasted using variation in the recurring motifs and visual devices while all at the same time keeping the film intact. I also particularly liked the film’s soundtrack which creates a distinctly odd yet vibrant mood. However, you’ll realize that several parts of the film and some ideas it presented are seemingly all too familiar, maybe due to allusions or influences from other films. I recognize references to films such as It’s a wonderful Life (1946), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and even from David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) in the film. Jared Leto's performance, though not bad, could still have been better instead of just making Mr. Nobody fit right into the backdrop of the film. Nonetheless, the film's positive attributes somewhat made up for its negatives. Not a great film, but definitely good enough to warrant and entertain an audience.

Screenshots from 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) and Mr. Nobody(2009)

So perhaps, Van Dormael is now asking himself, what if I've done that instead of this. But on the other hand, thank goodness he didn't do this instead of that. Or else, we might all end up dead under a truck's wheel somewhere.



Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Kahuna Burgers