Wednesday 21 September 2011

Mr. Nobody

"is it a compliment that Mr.Nobody could arguably sit alongside Terrance Malick's Tree Of Life with everything its trying to say?"
During the run up to the Reading Festival this year Kerrang magazine promoted the dvd release of Jared Leto's new film Mr. Nobody (although had a limited release as far back as September 2009) giving his acting career as much emphasis as his band 30 Seconds to Mars. While Leto's band played the main stage at Reading and Leeds this year his acting career in recent years has been infrequent yet aroused much recognition. Personally I always see Leto either singing heavy repetitive rock or next to Edward Norton and Brad Pitt in Fight Club - surely everyone's favourite film.


Mr. Nobody is a surreal sci-fi dram which centres on Leto's character Nemo Nobody, Leto plays both the 34 and 118 year old version of Nemo - It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it weirdly does. Nemo finds himself in the strange new world of 2092 where he is the last living mortal human alive, (for reasons that are far too boring and complicated to elaborate on) Nemo recounts his life to a a young journalist played by British actor Daniel Mays. Nemo tells the story of key events in his life, such as the moment when his parents split up and Nemo's complicated love life, however as Nemo faces tough decision like which parents to stay with, we see the consequences of both. Like the journalist interviewing Nemo years later we're left wondering "so which one did you pick your Mother or your Father?" Nemo answers "...Both"


Director Jaco Van Dormael has made a quirky film about life and fate and the choices we make, is it a compliment that Mr.Nobody could arguably sit alongside Terrance Malick's Tree Of Life with everything its trying to say? I'm certainly not one to demand a linear narrative and I enjoyed the way this one came together. Some people may have disliked them, but the moments when Nemo has monologues in front of a green screen about the meaning and the strangeness of life I found to be both insightful and  a welcome break from the story which seemed to drag on . Nemo in one of these monologues asks such rhetorial question as "Why does smoke leave the cigarette? Why do bacteria cells multiple away from each other?". Mr. Nobody will have been off the radar for most people but it's certainly worth checking out, although I know a slice of you with dislike it and may review it words such as "meaningless" and "preachy". 

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