Incertezas

This film is about two lost and found stories that lead to vastly different consequences.

"Uncertainty" starts off very promising, with two different parallel plots branching off in a refreshing way. These two plots are separated by colour schemes so the stories are easy to follow despite jumping from one story to another.

The yellow story is an action thriller. It begins engagingly with a lot of adrenaline pumping. However, the thrill and suspense were not maintained. It is not helped by the boredom of the green story dispersed in between, which destroys the momentum of the yellow story. As the green story never goes anywhere, "Uncertainty" is so much better off if they just concentrated on the yellow story as a action thriller.

I put this film because I got a crush on Lynn Collins and think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a good budding star. I got my money's worth from their performances, in fact I think Collins is more than just looks, but the plot deflating in the family driven sense and the Manhattan sequence advances the tension which constantly stalls for the family sequence. Confused... yeah I was too. I looked up the film's synopsis and it made more sense.

Think of it like this, the 2010 season of Lost. Two story lines inter-cutting based on a slight change in life. I'm not wild about this film, but it deserves attention for the performances from the leads and for being original, which is a rarity nowadays.

JGL on the phone to Chinese gangster. 'We're in the bank on the corner of Canal Street.'

2 minutes later Chinese gangster arrives at bank.

JGL's girlfriend, Caty, in a panic. 'Oh my God! How'd he find us?'

JGL 'I don't know.'

That just about sums up the nature of this film. They really didn't think it through very well. Indeed, it leaves you thinking very clearly that they had no script for this. Just 'make it up as you go along guys' seems to be the rule here and, well, it comes across as just made up.

JGL is good, as he always is, but the rest of the cast went through the movie in 'actor mode'. There is the ubiquitous scene of families all talking at the same time over dinner; out of focus views of twilight in the Big Apple; and a totally unnecessary sex scene. Sure this was all done on a low budget but so was Napoleon Dynamite. I really cannot think of anything positive to say about this film, even though I would genuinely like to do so. One to be avoided folks.

This movie is easily described as cool. You are going to feel somewhat robbed at the end when the idea you are being introduced to is not exactly tied together in the end, but try not to think about that. This movie is clearly experimental. Forget the style and focus on what the movie is saying.

What was the point of the two stories? (those who have not watched the movie yet will understand once you have seen it) One story was a family drama and another was a high energy thriller. Both about them unable to make decisions on life effecting choices. Through both situations we are able to learn about these two people and the difficulties they have trying to behave as one. What results from this is two very believable performances.

These two performers were so good together. Very different Joseph than what we saw in (500) Days of Summer. They behaved like a real couple. You would think they are dating off screen.

The raw style in cinematography surprisingly works well with the melodic musical score. New York City is becoming less of a movie setting, so it is always pleasing to see it still.

Good experimental film. I recommend it.

I was in the audience of the premiere screening of this film yesterday in Toronto. The movie was a wonderful combination of romance, drama, action, and plenty of subtle humour. The plot, which alternates between two distinct locations (Manhattan and Brooklyn/Queens), was well designed to keep audiences engaged. The concept of uncertainty and the possible consequences of all decisions was well presented throughout the movie. However, the plot and central themes may not have resulted in such a great film had it not been for the acting talents of the two stars (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lynn Collins - both present for the screening and subsequent Q&A). The filming for this movie was unique because while there was a fully developed script, it contained no dialogue and the actors improvised it during filming. They did an excellent job and the characters were very believable and the acting appeared very natural. Overall, the unique plot, talented cast, and creative filming style combined to create a wonderful film, which I hope will be appreciated by a much wider audience in the near future.