The Future

"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.

Hmmm...the summary title says it all. Not quite sure what this film is saying or trying to stimulate you into thinking about: lack of purpose in modern life, the small actions on which lasting love lives or dies, how much of ourselves do we show to each other, emotional paralysis in an atomised first world, the value of human connection above all else, is man designed to run on any other fuel than god, artistic frustration and how beautiful creation can take place as much in your living room as the main stage at the Met, people looking for a place in a senseless world instead of just getting on and helping people... On the downside the dialogue and some of the acting is of the low-burn, snail pace that can destroy any sense of mood or tension...but on the upside there are perhaps 10 moments of absolute beauty, each worth admission alone, and Miranda July is an open wound of a screen presence. And I'm still thinking about the end and all the bits in between. Personally I'm prepared to be slightly confused when I come out highly affected and thinking...

An odd-duck couple who have had plenty of years to be married (read: get bored) and far too much time on their hands decide to adopt a cat. They can't pick it up for a month because it's undergoing some medical treatments, and they're warned that if they fail to arrive on the designated date the cat will be euthanized. The prospect of that last month of freedom before they make a commitment to something other than themselves opens up a fissure in their lives and threatens to destroy a complacency they had begun to take for granted.

The fact that adopting a cat counts in their lives as a commitment great enough to alter their lives forever should tell you a little something about the personalities of these main characters, and if we end up being fed up with both of them, and her especially, I think we're meant to. It's nearly impossible to sympathize with people whose lives are basically so cushy that taking on a pet takes on the momentous proportions of a major life event -- but then I think of my own life, and how good I basically have it, and how good even the most average American basically has it, and how most of my problems would seem pretty petty to a lot of other people out there in the world, and realize that maybe what annoys me about these characters are the qualities I see in them that most annoy me about myself.

"The Future" I think is a cautionary tale about what happens to people when they spend all of their lives worrying about what their lives could be instead of accepting what their lives actually are. At some point, everyone gets to an age where he or she has to simply commit to SOMETHING, whether it be another person, a child, a cause, a pet, a life path, a career. Whatever it is, they have to make a conscious choice to make the best of what they have and stop worrying about what could have been. Easier said than done, probably, or many many people would be much happier.

I liked "The Future" well enough while I was watching it, but I can't say it really stuck with me. Miranda July has an off-beat writing and directorial (not to mention acting) style that will probably turn off some. I'm o.k. with it, and I must say that for once it was refreshing to see a movie in which it's the female rather than the male who does a worse job of dealing with a mid-life crisis. Thank you Ms. July for equaling the playing field a bit.

Grade: B

I went into this film with low expectations because it seemed as though it would be just another film full of contrived quirks and gratuitous plot twists meant to seem original, and while my husband is a full-force Miranda July fan, I can take or leave her work.

But I was floored by how good it was. Perhaps due in part to my lower expectations. But I thought it was touching and poignant - and very funny (the whole theater laughed out loud a few times). I cried at the beginning, and I cried (sobbed, really, while having to cover my mouth to mute myself) at the end. I really enjoyed July and Hamish Linklater; especially Linklater, who seemed like a more accessible character while July still bordered on the wide-eyed, "unique" indie-chick stereotype. Though she did break through that enough moments in the film for me to enjoy her character. The cat monologues that I had cringed at when I read about them prior to seeing the film actually worked quite well for me.

I don't think this is a movie I'll re-watch often in The Future, but it's definitely one I think people should see at least once or twice.

Directed, scripted and starring by Miranda July, The Future is a film that has been selected for the Berlin Film Festival in 2011 and the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

The story revolves around a couple that proposes a change in your life. They hate their jobs and the idea of adopting a cat makes it arise a new way of life. However what is proposed as a change eventually becomes routine. The fear of failure and responsibility makes the personality of both becomes complicated and often result surreal. The time is always the reason for the changes. The fear of an uncertain future and nonconformity with the present makes it parodies on numerous occasions the fact of stop the time. Specifically, the period in which Sophie and Jason are prepared to adopt a cat is the time when the personality of both becomes strange. There are surreal elements and nonsense conversations that show complex emotional states. The failure in work and routine makes Sophie feel prisoner to her feelings. The figure of Sophie has no splendor. It is a figure off and apparently weak. Her look is sad and never denotes happiness. In the same way the character of Jason is strange. He is the partner of Sophie and lives with her in a small flat and messy. His way of understanding things is similar to Sophie. Both fear the passage of time and want to be free. Marshall's character represents the freedom for Sophie. The way in which both are known is strange and simultaneously comic. Sophie looks out the window screaming and tries to listen to Marshall. The scene reflects a comparison: Sophie appears as imprisoned in her own home and as the only escape she has the window that looks out for help. The fact that the cat, paw paw, has a voice allowed to know their feelings and desires. The image is of an animal that is locked behind bars waiting for a change in his life, hoping in this case to be adopted. The comparison is similar to Sophie. Both are locked and desire freedom. The passing of time is also reflected in this character and appear feelings like frustration or even desperation to be adopted.

It's a surreal and complex film. The argument at first is easy but when the acts are performed we can see each character's feelings. We can see a lot of nonsense and abstract scenes. Adopting a pet is just an excuse for the change. I would like to highlight the rhetorical conversations about the passing of time, old age or the future. Personally I find this film hard to understand. There are many situations that make no sense as the act of talking to the moon, giving life to a shirt or the fact stop time. I think film is not made to be enjoyed, but it raises very philosophical thoughts on life. The emotional charge of the characters leads to surreal situations and even extravagant. These situations, in my opinion, have more weight than the argument itself.