Mr. Nobody

There's one thing about this film that makes me overlook the flaws:it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Some people walked out 20 minutes before the movie ended. I can't really explain to myself why ANYONE would do that (it was really tempting to ask but I literally couldn't take my eyes off the screen). It's really pointless to describe the plot because this movie is so much more then any summary could say. This film has so many stylistic, tonal and narrative changes that it seems absolutely mad for the first half hour. It's easily the most unique and worthy cinema experience in the last year, its feels very current. I could go on and on about the things I loved about this film but there's nothing right now that I would recommend seeing more to a person of any age, sex or taste in cinema. It's everything I could ask for in a film:funny, touching, thrilling, surreal, beautiful...

This beautiful surreal movie is full of memorable lines that will make you reconsider your outlook on life, but this one is my favorite:

"At my age, the candles cost more than the cake. I'm not afraid of dying. I'm afraid I haven't been alive enough. It should be written on every schoolroom blackboard: Life is a playground - or nothing."

9/10

This film is not for everyone. It has a sprawling, non-linear, non-conventional approach to storytelling. It follows the life (lives) of a man called Nemo Nobody (Jared Leto) whose life could have followed multiple different paths depending upon the smallest of chance occurrences.

Whereas films such as Sliding Doors follow a simple two-path narrative, this film has multiple branches. The achievement is that all of them are interesting (in different ways) and it never feels confused.

The central theme is love, and how random chances affect who we love, and how that love changes. There is joy, loss, betrayal, grief and a whole swath of other emotions on display here. My only complaint is that there is no really satisfying conclusion to the film, but I am not even sure that such a thing is possible.

If you are willing to try something different, something unconventional, that doesn't necessarily make sense, then give this a try. If nothing else, it will give you something to think about.

How to review this film without giving too much away? Throughout the film, I was constantly surprised and amazed. I think my mouth was hanging slightly open a few times from the brilliance on display. I was totally captivated from start to finish. Taken simply, it's a philosophical sci-fi film, but it's so much more than that. It's about choices, destinies, astrophysics, dreams and memories, just to name a few themes. Taken at its simplest, it's the jumbled recollections of the last mortal man, 118 years old, on Earth in 2092. The problem is that his memories are in total disorder and contradictory. In practice, it means that this is a very non-linear experience in terms of time and space, real and imaginary, showing you results of important choices either way. It doesn't focus on just 2 alternate lives either, things constantly branch out. You would think the film would be a mess, but it's surprisingly cohesive, gripping and even quite touching. I'm sure some will find it confusing, but that's part of the point: Mr. Nobody's memories seem confused and appearances might be deceiving.

I found it extremely romantic despite the fact there are 3 very different love interests. One might say that sometimes the dialogue in romantic parts was corny, but I think that the most beautiful declarations of love can be the simplest as long as they are sincere. They felt that way here. The acting was top-notch all over the board with no weak performance in sight. Mr. Nobody's makeup and voice as an old man were perhaps a little distracting but nothing major. It's not a special effects extravaganza, but what was seen was quite imaginative and beautiful to behold. I think the contrast with the more mundane stuff going on makes them even more impressive. Visually, it has an incredible number of different angles and viewpoints all extremely well shot. What's amazing is that the (often) brilliant transitions flow so well from one to another without being jarring.

There are so many story threads (most fascinating), so many changes of tones (whimsical to tragic) and so much range (from intimate to grandiose). I think people who like to analyze films would have a field day with this one although it's possible they would nitpick on the borrowed elements. There's also lots of food for thought and should provoke very interesting discussions afterwards especially on what might have happened if choices in your life had been different. Contrary to most films where I tend to think of what I will write in my review as the film is going on, it did not really happen here. I was totally absorbed and that's rare. The choice of songs and musics, mostly known, was excellent and added a lot especially in romantic parts. I'm even considering buying the soundtrack. Mr. Nobody is a challenging but very rewarding film to watch . I don't think it's for everyone, mostly because of its non-linear structure, but those who appreciate unconventional films like Brazil, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Vanilla Sky or Big Fish should be quite pleased. I loved Mr. Nobody and it has become one of my new favorite films. To be quite honest, I wish I could see it again right now... Very highly recommended particularly with someone special.

Rating : 9.5 out of 10 (not full 10 because ending could have been better)

Just caught the north American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. This is my first IMDb comment, doing it cause i saw no one else has written anything yet.

Jaco is an absolutely brilliant writer/director. I haven't seen too many art-house films, but I was pleasantly surprised by the tone which wasn't too serious, or pretentious. There were laugh out loud moments during a movie with themes concerning choice, destiny, and metaphysics.

I was enamoured by the love story, it was feel good without being Hollywood.

The visuals were amazing. I believe that Jaco explained that he used different DP's to film the different possible lives of Mr. Nobody. There were scenes set in the year 2092 that were absolutely stunning on the big screen.

I found the soundtrack to be awesome. Any movie with "Mr. Sandman" and "Where is my mind?" is alright by me.

The movie was extremely imaginative, original, funny, and will probably have me thinking about it and my own life for days after viewing.