It's apparent from the first frame of Charlie Kaufman's adaptation of "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," which lingers on the image of yellow wallpaper, what kind of film we're in for. Initially, though, the film seems fairly straightforward. A young woman, played by Jessie Buckley, is thinking of breaking up with her boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons), which she tells us through an interior monologue. Nonetheless, she agrees to go with him to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis) for dinner. During the long drive, it's steadily snowing, and our protagonist is worried about not making it home that night.
Except, things seem to be a little off. During that long, boring drive where Jake and Lucy (or is it Louisa?) try to make awkward conversation with each other, talk over each other, and the actors make a meal of uncomfortable pauses, there's clearly something going on beyond a relationship starting to come apart. When the pair reach Jake's parents' farm, the feeling intensifies. The parents seem to change in age from scene to scene, growing older or younger at random. Lucy (or is it Amy?) spots a picture of Jake as a child on the wall, which looks an awful lot like herself as a child. And at one point she clears the dinner table of plates still heaped high with what looks like totally untouched food. And then there are the seemingly random scenes of a high school janitor (Guy Boyd) interspersed throughout the story, living out his sad, mundane life. What the hell is going on?
This is the first Charlie Kaufman film since "Anomalisa," and the first live action one since "Synecdoche, New York," with which it shares a lot of the same conceits and themes. Reality is a very tenuous thing here, and we're often seeing characters' memories, fantasies, fears, and symbolic representations colliding in various ways. I don't think there's any part of the film you can say is actually objective reality at any point, except some of the early scenes with the janitor. Some of the characters seem to have their own inner life and agency, while others do not. The film presents the kind of ontological and solipsistic mysteries that will delight those who enjoy this kind of thing, and confound those who do not.
Being a self-professed Charlie Kaufman nut, I'm very happy to have another navel-gazing, existentially broody, overlong film stuffed to the gills with all manner of references and too many ideas. This one borrows bits of the musical "Oklahoma," the poetry of Eva H.D., writings of David Foster Wallace, Pauline Kael's review of "A Woman Under the Influence," and many more. There's a whole sequence that seems to be in conversation with Ron Howard's "A Beautiful Mind," as though Kaufman were already anticipating comparisons to it. As a director, Kaufman hasn't lost a step. I was constantly impressed with how beautifully composed his frames are, and how dense they are with information. He also has a real knack for finding the horror in mundane imagery - I'd call it Lynchian, but there's a very different vibe. On that note, I suppose that this movie should count as a horror film, in the same way that "Twin Peaks" counts as a prime time network soap opera.
What I also like about "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is that it's more formally playful and less worried about being subtle - at least, after the first thirty minutes or so of purposefully tedious realism. The film quickly spirals from odd lapses and weird behavior to out-and-out lunacy and brain breaking flights of fancy. It's impressive to see how many ways he manages to conceptualize this, and how his actors manage to keep up with all the madness. Buckley and Plemmons are fantastic actors, who tackle the endless ambiguities of the script head on, and are game to roll with its wilder twists and turns. Buckley at one point morphs into Pauline Kael.
And then there's the dance number. And the song number. And the use of animation. And the epic shade thrown at Robert Zemeckis (who gets a thank you in the credits). Oh, and after all of this, somehow Kaufman still hasn't made a film with a female lead.
I've just finished watching the film, so these are only preliminary impressions. I expect I'll be back with more on it later.
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