Looper

There are movies that you just hate.  There are movies that you just love.  Sometimes, there are movies that you know are good, but you're unlikely to sit and watch them over and over again.  You feel that it's a good thing you saw that movie, but it takes something out of you to watch it.  Looper is a bit like that.  It's a great movie, but it walks a bit too close to the darkest time line* to allow constant viewings.

Looper was set up for success from the moment Rian Johnson, the director, grabbed Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis for this time travel drama.  When you have Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels further beefing up the cast, you're set on that front.  Each and every one of them does an good job with their parts.  In particular, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just plain amazing.

As you probably realize, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis don't look particularly alike, but they're the same person in Looper.  A combination of amazing acting and incredible make-up blurs that line and makes it believable that they're both Joe.  JGL has adopted some of Willis' verbal characteristics, as well as some of the non-verbal ones.  You buy him as a young Bruce Willis because he sells it.  The make-up is just adds to the illusion.

It's nice to see that such amazing acting and visual effects work is only a part of what is great about Looper.  The story itself is remarkable and well done.  Time travel can be a bit messy, and when it's not handled properly, it becomes a train wreck.  Looper chooses to lay out the basics but not actually explain how the time travel works, and that's okay.  We don't need the science of it because that's now what the movie is about.  The cause and effect of messing with the time line is shown and used smartly.  You see the little ripples because there is a great attention to detail.  Looper is a smart film.

Rian Johnson, as proven by Brick, is a good director.  For those of you who haven't seen the film, you should.  I reviewed it a while ago because it was awesome.  With Looper, Johnson continues to show that he is a talented director and story teller.  As Looper takes place in the near future, Johnson was tasked with showing us that world and how it differs from ours, and he rises to the challenge superbly.  He manages to convey the world of the future without dumbing it down.  While there is a bit of voice over here and there, it is minimal and fits.  Most information is conveyed through the film itself.  We see what Joe's life is like, but it feels organic.  It feels realistic.

Science fiction films have the potential to be great but must tread carefully, lest they become silly.  Looper strolls along just fine with no missteps, and that's saying something.  From the acting to the story, Looper is worth your time and money.  The story went places I didn't expect, but afterwards, it felt like that was where it always had to go.  While I don't plan on watching it over and over again, I'm glad I saw Looper.  I suggest you see it too.

*For those of you that watch Community, this should kind of make sense.  Mark and I have adopted the phrase to refer to anything that is dark.