#12 monkeys

As hard as it is for me to believe, this is my last solo review for our year long project.  As crazy as it sounds after doing approximately 125 movie reviews in the last year, but there are still so many films that we haven’t reviewed that I had hoped to get to.  For my last review I’m going to look at a movie that’s just outside my top 5 and the masterpiece from visionary director Terry Gilliam, 12 Monkeys. 

The film is set in an apocalyptic future where over 5 billion people have died from an extremely deadly virus that spread globally in just a matter of weeks.  (12 Monkeys did dystopian future long before it was cool.)  Those that survived have been forced to live underground.  Scientists have been using prisoners as “volunteers” to explore the surface in hopes of finding a cure for the virus.  One of those volunteers is James Cole (Bruce Willis) the center of the movie.

What follows is a strange and amazing story of time travel, love, and a whole host of messages about animal abuse, population growth, consumerism, and technology told in the completely unique and wonderful style of director Terry Gilliam.  Gilliam came to fame as a part of the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python and was responsible for all of their unusual animated sequences, so it’s no surprise that Gilliam became a director with a flair for the unusual.

The story deals with many themes, but the most prominent is time.  James is asked to travel back in time (albeit in a very inexact manner) to try to gather information on the mysterious Army of the 12 Monkeys who are believed to be responsible for releasing the virus.  As the story progresses, James jumps back and forth between his present in 2035 and several past dates including 1990, during World War I, and finally to his intended destination in 1996 when the virus spread.  The continual jumping through time is disorienting to James who has trouble differentiating between what is the past and what is the present.

In his travels James meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) a clearly insane man who also happens to be the son of a Nobel Prize winning virologist and the man who founded the Army of the 12 Monkeys.  Jeffrey loves to ramble on about animal cruelty and the rampant consumerism in our culture.  It’s no surprise that James and Jeffrey meet while they are both in a mental hospital under the care of Dr. Katheryn Railly (Madeline Stowe).  As James travels back and forth, Katheryn becomes first his prisoner and then his accomplice.

 I’ve heard this movie described as a sci-fi thriller, but I’m not sure that thriller is the right description.  In some ways, it’s a screwball comedy more than a thriller.  While there are some tense scenes, it’s not the kind of film that keeps your heart racing the entire time.  It seems to be more designed to keep the viewers off balance and unsure of what’s going to happen next.    

The acting in this film is brilliant, especially from Brad Pitt who earned a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination for his work.  I’ve had to defend Brad Pitt’s acting talent on many occasions.  There are many that believe he is just a pretty boy without much skill as an actor who just got famous by taking his shirt off.  But Pitt is a very talented actor and his early roles like this one in 12 Monkeys show that he is an actor who was, and still should be, recognized for his immense talent.

12 Monkeys is a strange and quirky film, but to me that is its charm.  My wife is my barometer to judge how the average movie fan would react to a particular film, and she is not a fan of 12 Monkeys.  It’s not a film for everyone with it’s unconventional story and litany of messages, but it is a surprisingly brilliant film in almost all aspects.

I would kick myself if I neglected to mention one of my most favorite aspects of the film, the score.  The score was composted by English musician Paul Buckmaster and it heavily features an accordion driven tango that adds a whole level of creepy throughout the film.  

12 Monkeys is not a film for everyone, but if you like movies that buck convention in favor of doing new and bold things, then you might just love it as much as I do.  With a clever, but twisted, story and outstanding acting it is, at least in my view, a modern classic.

-Phil