Screen Scene

  Fine Line Features Patricia Arquette and
Tim Robbins star in "Human Nature," opening
today.

“Human Nature” Directed by Michel Gondry
Starring Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans and Tim Robbins

From the writer of “Being John Malkovich,” comes
another dippy comedy with philosophical overtones called
“Human Nature” that makes the absurd look hilarious. In
order to unravel the cause of a murder, the film is narrated
through three testimonies given by the unnaturally hairy nature
writer Lila Jute (Patricia Arquette), the ape-man turned refined
savant Puff (Rhys Ifans), and the frigid behaviorist himself Nathan
Braufman (Tim Robbins). The movie dissects and pokes fun at the
follies found in human nature with all of its central characters
ironically looking like the guinea pigs. Nathan offers a great
example of someone whose learned and cultured ways still cannot
repress his own sexual behavior. Psychology students will enjoy
seeing Tim Robbins’ character metaphorically reduced from a
scientist to a lab rat as he’s subjected to positive
reinforcement from his alluring lab assistant Gabrielle. She trains
him to repeatedly say her name after she breathily coos her
enjoyment in it. Another way the film parodies human nature is with
Rhys Ifan’s standout performance as Puff. Puff humorously
shows his indoctrination by society when he pretends to clap at an
opera though inside a simulation booth or pitifully attempts to
control his horniness by getting electronically zapped. all show
sardonic notions of what it means to be “cultured,” in
suppressing who people really are. Puff’s eloquence in
contrast to his animalism create some off-the-wall deadpan moments,
like when he seriously proclaims to the men and women of Congress,
“I was raised by an ape ““ well, a man who thought
himself an ape.” Many screen sequences are salvaged from
looking fragmented due to director Michel Gondry’s skillful
editing. With a background in directing music videos (for Bjork,
Foo Fighters and Beck), Gondry knows how to pump up scenes with
vibrant images and technological tricks. Also the scenes with Lila
running and singing in the woods look like clips reminiscent of
Bjork’s “Human Behavior,” an artistically seminal
video directed by Gondry himself. The movie’s great casting,
funny script, smooth directing, and playfully eye-catching visuals
outweigh its somewhat shaky plot. “Human Nature” is
just a romping good comedy that only touches on the question about
human nature in order to make fun of it.

Mary Dang   Lions Gate Films (Left to
right) Bill Paxton, Matthew O’Leary, and Jeremy Sumpter in
"Frailty."

“Frailty” Directed by Bill Paxton Starring
Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Matt O’Leary, and Jeremy
Sumpter

The heavy TV ad campaign for “Frailty” has got it
all wrong. Flashing quick sequences narrated with Bill
Paxton’s demonic voice-overs along with glowing blurbs from
Stephen King and Sam Raimi builds up a lot of hype. A lot of hype
that the movie doesn’t quite live up to. Is it scary? Not
really … Is it dark and disturbing? Somewhat. Basically it boils
down to this: Dad (Bill Paxton) is a dedicated and caring father to
Fenton (Matt O’Leary) and Adam (Jeremy Sumpter) Meiks.
Everything is going fine until he is visited by an angel and God,
telling him that he and his sons have been chosen to find demons
and destroy them. They begin to hunt down these demons, which are
normal people, and destroy them. Matthew McConaughey stars as the
older Fenton Meiks, talking to the FBI and revealing his story
through flashbacks. The plot is kind of cheesy, but the acting is
great. McConaughey presents a chilling performance as a disturbed
man, and the wonder and doubt displayed by O’Leary and
Sumpter is excellent. Bill Paxton, who plays the honest
single-father, acts and directs, and does a superb job doing both.
The only problem is the plot. Borderlining on scary at times,
it’s more disturbing than it is anything else. To be compared
to with “The Shining,” (Sam Raimi said
“Frailty” was the scariest film since “The
Shining”) does Stephen King’s film a disservice. There
is no haunting, eerie feeling when leaving the theater, but there
is salvation through the series of plot twists, that wraps up any
loose ends nicely. “Frailty” is a decent movie,
strictly a past-time, a rental if anything. If anyone were to want
to see something disturbing, they could probably just as easily
turn on the news and learn about crematories in Georgia that leave
bodies in a field behind the complex.

Kenny Chang