Human Nature

 

Human Nature 2001

• Director: Michel Gondry
• Seen by this director: Flight of the Conchords, Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Based on the book: no, but written by Charles Kaufman
• Cast: Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Peter Dinklage, Mary Kay Place, Robert Forster, Rosie Perez, Miranda Otto
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Tim Robbins – Then She Found Me, Catch a Fire, The Secret Life of Words, War of the Worlds, Mystic River, High Fidelity, Mission to Mars, The Shawshank Redemption, Twister, Bull Durham
• Patricia Arquette – Ed Wood, True Romance, The Indian Runner
• Rhys Ifans – Harry Potter, The Boat that Rocked, Elizabeth the Golden Age, Once upon a Time in the Midlands, The Shipping News, The 51^st State, Notting Hill
• Peter Dinklage – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, X-Men Days of Future Past, Station Agent
• Mary Kay Place – Lonesome Jim, Girl Interrupted, Being John Malkovich, Manny & Lo, Citizen Ruth, New York New York
• Robert Forster – London Has Fallen, Breaking Bad, The Descendants, Jackie Brown
• Rosie Perez – Riding around with Boys, Fearless, White Men Can’t Jump, Night on Earth, Do the Right Thing
• Miranda Otto – War of the Worlds, Doctor Sleep
• Why? Enjoyed it the first time
• Seen: Once before. Now 19 November 2022 

       Lila (Arequette) has a malady that gives her hair all over her body. She flees society to live peacefully in the forest with other furred creatures. Puff (Ifans) was brought up as an ape by his father who believed he was an ape. Nathan (Robbins) is dead but he still hates apes. He and Lila meet while he’s still alive. They become lovers. While on a walk in the woods they encounter Puff. Lila flings off her clothes and gives chase. Nathan takes Puff to his lab to teach him to be civilised where the ape man is given the name Puff by Nathan’s flirtatious assistant Gabrielle (Otto).

       Love complications ensue as nurture is attempted to override nature.

       Of course it’s absurd. That’s the point. Humans, nature, human nature, and the absurdity of it all.

       It’s fun but sillier than I remember. However I’m a big fan of both Robbins and Ifans. 

3 ½ * of 5