Review of Human Nature (2001) by Kyle G — 22 Jun 2012

Psychedelic, high-concept dick-swinging, with a dash of pulp anthropology. A little-seen 2001 collaboration between American film maestros, HUMAN NATURE is a nearly perfect example of them blending their talents and compensating for one another's weaknesses. Director Michel Gondry (better known today for '04's ETERNAL SUNSHINE) and writer Charlie Kaufman (better known today for '02's ADAPTATION) team up early in their careers, and the result is a winning combo of absurd comedy and philosophic gravity.

Gondry's a great visual artist, but his twee conceits can't always support a whole script; Kaufman's a weird genius with words, but his concepts are often too ludicrous and neverending. Together, they blend the visuals and weirdness, clean up the other's cuteness or brokenness, and deliver a zany and rambunctious tale of wild nature or human legitimacy; sex in all its many, many manifestations; and culture as an experiment or a mistake or something better.

We meet all the characters at present, then flash back for most of their stories. Nathan (Tim Robbins), in a whitewashed Heaven with a gunshot scar in his head, was actually a behavioral scientist. Puff (Rhys Ifans), urbanely testifying before Congress, was actually a man-ape that Nathan eventually studied. Lila (Patricia Arquette), in a police interrogation before she starts serving a life sentence, was actually an embarrassingly fur-covered young woman who befriended both Nathan and Puff.

In a pivotal side-plot (but one that doesn't necessitate the same flashback framing), Nathan's lab assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto -- extreme, over-the-top, French-accented cuteness -- I can't believe Eowyn had such a previous role) flirts with her supervisor and lands in the middle of the whole complex and strange satire.