The Future (2011)

10 Comments

1. 

   David Ferguson (fergusontx@gmail.com) from Dallas, Texas
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   Greetings again from the darkness. Thanks to her 2005 debut film ME ANDYOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, I became a fan of Miranda July. Unfortunatelythat means reading a few of her short stories and waiting six years forher second film. There is no rushing creative genius, and there iscertainly no obvious goal for capitalistic gains. With her second film,it appears she will somehow generate even fewer viewers, despite beinga festival favorite.

   The movie is bookended by the narration of Paw-Paw, an injured catwaiting to be adopted by Sophie (Miranda July) and Jason (HamishLinklater). In the cat's voice we hear the hope of a new life – onethat includes love and security. Things aren't quite the same from theperspective of our two heroes.

   Sophie and Hamish are in many ways a typical couple. They sometimesspeak their own language and when things are going good, they believethey can conquer all. However, hitting a bump means much doubt and andan avalanche of self-defeatist attitudes. The latest bump is the beliefthat adopting this cat will suck the freedom right out of their dailylives … in fact, they discuss the fact that because of their age(35), life and dreams are basically over. So, with 30 days tiladoption, they seek to live life to the fullest. You know, before it'sall over.

   They both quit the jobs that have evidently been the burden keepingthem from greater purpose. Jason works from home as an IT Help Deskagent and Sophie is the absolute worst dance instructor for kids inexistence. Jason tries to find meaning by selling trees to save theenvironment. Sophie decides to make youtube videos – 30 Dances in 30Days, but with such mounting pressure, ends up under the bed coversbefore even one video is complete.

   These two remind me of 8 year olds with advanced vocabularies. Somehowthey think society or the universe owes them something and just bydreaming big, their lives will be complete. They each believe they havespecial powers: Sophie can move things with her mind (not really) andJason can stop time (not sure). We see Jason fall under the spell ofthe most interesting character in the film – an octogenarian played byJoe Putterlik. We see Sophie fall into bed with Marshall (DavidWarshofsky), a 50ish single dad living in the suburbs.

   So here is some of what the film offers us: a slacker couple in arundown apartment, same couple overwhelmed by the burden of adopting acat, a crawling security blanket (t-shirt) that stalks its owner, anarrating cat, an empty affair with a mis-matched couple, an old manphilosopher and his dirty-talk greeting cards, a discussion with themoon (yes, the moon), a young girl (wonderful Isabella Acres) whoburies herself in the backyard with the approval of her dad, and(twice) the terrific Peggy Lee song "Where or When".

   Ms. July is a fabulous observer of life and people and personalities.She seems to understand doubt, dreams and carries an interest in whattime lapse really means for us. Her manner of making these points andsharing her insight is quite off-beat from what we typically see inmovies. I believe that makes it more important that she continue toproduce her works. Unlike what I will say about her character in thisfilm, The Future looks awfully bright for Miranda July.

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2. 

   bluesdoctor from A Place is Just A Place
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   As director Miranda July explains in the DVD commentary, the basicconcept for this movie occurred to her while she was making her lastmovie, Me and You and Everyone We Know, and going through a toughromantic breakup. The heartbreak of losing her lover resulted in aperformance piece that she did at the Kitchen in NYC in 2007,consisting of the paws of a talking cat and the T-shirt dance piece.These were later expanded into a movie.

   Sophie (a composite of July and one of her close friends) and boyfriendJason drop out, quite their jobs, in search of meaning and truth.Sophie's inability to fulfill the promise she makes to herself (and heremail friends) of creating 30 dances in 30 days reflects thedislocation of July from herself and time due to the devastation oflosing her lover. A heart-broken lover wants to stop time and withdrawfrom life. The talking cat, Paw Paw, is a metaphor for waiting, esp.waiting for love, for belonging to someone, for being rescued andredeemed by another, a condition of stasis, paralysis and being out oftime (the central metaphor of the movie). Literally, Paw Paw is tinyvoice coming out of July herself.

   The movie as a whole is meant to tell the story of Miranda losing andfinding herself, her withdrawing from life and re-emerging in it,finally willing to accept the unknown and no longer passively,helplessly waiting, like Paw Paw, to be loved by someone, to bediscovered and taken care of by someone. Paw Paw disappears becausewaiting is no longer needed, not because an actual cat dies because heis forgotten by its owners.

   Sophie's temporary infidelity to Jason, with a man named Marshall,represents Sophie sinking into oblivion, her being lost in sterilesuburbia, passively surrendering to Marshall, and allowing him to takecare of her. Sophie wakens from her sleep when she is called upon totake care of Marshall's child, Gabriella, a selfless act that pulls herout of herself. The T-shirt dance represents a farewell to Marshall andSophie reclaiming her identity.

   The T-shirt dance piece marks Miranda's finally being able toreintegrate and express herself in dance: she can now be true to herinner self because her outer self is hidden from view and thus notsubject to the critical judgment of others or self-censorship.

   Jason's journey echoes Sophie's. Jason is an appendage, a variation, ofSophie, not an independent character of his own. This is a majorweakness of the film: it is one-sided, onanistic.

   The problem with the movie is that it IS a movie and NOT a performancepiece. Performance pieces are stand-alone, abstract, conceptual works,which usually occur on a bare stage. These do not readily translateinto a feature-length movie because movies require a cohesive storywith characters, settings, etc. that have to be integrated into onesustained narrative. Performance pieces extract and distill meaningfrom its context. Movies do the opposite; they create contexts, theirown worlds, for their meanings.

   This movie fails because it feels like a bunch of performance conceptsloosely strung together, not an integrated, whole narrative. Julysomehow is unable to move from her performance roots to fully embracethe language of cinema. In addition, she is not always able totranslate the deeply personal and subjective into universal art. Themost that can be said for this movie is that some of the episodes areintriguing, even if hard to fathom or integrate into a plot. It toooften comes off as being quirky just for the sake of being quirky, anindie affectation.

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3. 

   pattersonovsky from austin, tx
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   I went into this film with low expectations because it seemed as thoughit would be just another film full of contrived quirks and gratuitousplot twists meant to seem original, and while my husband is afull-force Miranda July fan, I can take or leave her work.

   But I was floored by how good it was. Perhaps due in part to my lowerexpectations. But I thought it was touching and poignant – and veryfunny (the whole theater laughed out loud a few times). I cried at thebeginning, and I cried (sobbed, really, while having to cover my mouthto mute myself) at the end. I really enjoyed July and Hamish Linklater;especially Linklater, who seemed like a more accessible character whileJuly still bordered on the wide-eyed, "unique" indie-chick stereotype.Though she did break through that enough moments in the film for me toenjoy her character. The cat monologues that I had cringed at when Iread about them prior to seeing the film actually worked quite well forme.

   I don't think this is a movie I'll re-watch often in The Future, butit's definitely one I think people should see at least once or twice.

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4. 

   anonymousspks from United States
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   I was excitedly waiting for this film to appear in the cozy theater inmy town. I really enjoyed Me and You and Everyone We Know. When I sawthe trailer for The Future I thought the character Sophie is verysimilar to Christine in the previous film. The feeling of both filmsare very similar and I say that as a compliment; it gives Miranda Julyher own unique voice in film.

   When I watched the film I regretted having seen the trailer, as it gaveaway a lot of the key points in the story. I think this is a very goodfilm portraying relationships between couples. I could see a lot ofsymbols in the film pointing at the gender stereotypes everyone isaffected by as being part of a patriarchal society. I like the conceptof the cat representing the union of the two people, and how Mirandashows pets in relation to the other couples in the story to showwhether or not their relationship survived/withstood time. I think thisfilm provokes thoughts and is meant to make people reflect about theirrelationships with others. It shows that miscommunication, fear ofconfrontation, fear of being ourselves, is what breaks relationships.He cannot love her if he doesn't love himself. She cannot love him ifshe doesn't love herself. We can't have decent relationships when we'renot being honest with ourselves. Being honest with another person,loving the other person, comes second to being honest and lovingyourself.

   I don't understand why this film has so many negative comments in thereviews. I truly enjoyed this and hope to see Miranda continue withmore projects.

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5. 

   evlasky83 from Spain
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   July's film depicts the quirkiness and clumsiness of those who are, asConrad put it, about to cross the "twilight between youth andmaturity", struggling with their call to adult life (in the form ofparenthood, career, responsibility).

   Although it speaks about a universal topic, there are many hints in themovie that point to our current generation. One for instance:accumulating whatever mundane knowledge on the internet, instead ofsitting still and trying to think. So noughties.

   I don't want to say more. If you are, let's say, in your mid 30s,urbanite, have studied liberal arts, and still struggle (or evenbetter: wait) to define yourself, please watch this movie. You willfind a part of yourself, and part of the answer to your questions.

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6. 

   kdcb from United States
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   This comment has spoilers in it. This is my first ever comment about amovie at IMDb, or otherwise. I like movies about animals, so I watchedthis on the basis of the printed synopsis. Well the movie is not aboutthe cat. That is too bad because the cat is the only intelligentcharacter in the movie ( what little you get to see of it ). The othercharacters are so ignorant that they forget to get the cat out of thepound before its death due date. Actually, I guess the cat wasfortunate to die peacefully and painlessly. The morons that were goingto adopt it would have forgotten to feed it and it would have starvedto death. This was such a stupid and pointless piece of ****. It waspure drudgery to sit through. You keep hoping the idiots would go getthe cat and the bleakness and emptiness of the film would brighten andfill with—something—anything. It just gets bleaker and more emptyand pointless. The cat was the only possibility of some sort ofsalvation for the movie. Instead we are left with an ending where thetwo vacuum headed characters reunite. I am sorry, I just cannot findenough bad words to properly express how bad this trite **** was. If Iused the words that it deserves, my comment would be removed.

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7. 

   rbbud from United States
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   Really!!!!?? A newly married couple in their mid 30's lack theslightest hint of responsibility to remember to pick up a cat!?! Which,I willing add, had marked on their calender! Do they even remember topay their bills on time? Oh wait, probably not, since call-center boyquit his JOB to "live in the moment". You know, to prepare himself forthe excruciatingly crushing commitment of looking after an animal for afew years. Oh, lets no forget the dancing girls idea of living themonth like its her last…Yeah, getting bent over a couch by someoneold enough to be her father while the sick daughter naps in the otherroom, but I digress. The only, and I mean ONLY redeeming quality thisfilm had was they separate in the end. Glad they never reproduced sinceobviously THAT would be a horrible mistake. By the way, I still feelsorry for Paw Paw, whose role was the only reason I watched thisgarbage through its entirety…

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8. 

   warlockweary from United States
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   Really ? People Liked This Movie ? What is wrong with you people ?

   Really This was one of the .. slowest – saddest – boring movies! I andmy Wife have ever seen

   She was sooo mad at the makers and writers of this amazingly bad movie.That she yelled at the screen like a mad women! ( She is a veterinarytechnician )

   We both found after watching this we could not stop ourselves fromtelling people not to go see movie! It was like we were possessed!

   I mean really ? Do you really hate cats that much ? ( She Was The OnlyPart Of The Darn Movie That Was Good! )

   I Never write reviews.. But had to on this one. Trust me.. Unless youwant to be very upset and depressed! Skip This One!

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9. 

   chaz-28 from Silver Spring, MD
   29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

   Any audience member who has seen a previous Miranda July film knowswhat they are in for if they go to another one. July loves silly andawkward conversations which spring out of thin air and make hercharacters seem quirky. If you love quirky and oddball then MirandaJuly is the filmmaker for you. However, July is one of those filmmakerswho do not have much a gray area when it comes to reactions. Moviegoers either love her or cannot stand her.

   July's latest film is The Future. Sophie (July) and Jason (HamishLinklater) have been in a relationship for four years and live togetherin Los Angeles. They have steady jobs, her as a dance teacher for kidsand him in the IT sector. One day, this couple makes a huge decision;they decide to adopt a cat. Yes, for this couple, this is a giganticand tortuous decision. The cat is hurt and in a veterinary hospital sothey much wait for one month before than can bring him home. Also, thecat has a speaking role. Miranda July supplies its voice-overnarration. If you have seen a previous July film, this will notsurprise you in the least.

   Sophie and Jason now believe they have one month of freedom left. Oncethe cat arrives, everything will change; they will have responsibility,they will grow old, and then they will die. One month. Therefore, theyquit their jobs and follow their individual quests not so much for selfimprovement or to follow their dreams, but to follow whatever happensto cross their path. I will stop the synopsis there so as to give awayany of the more odd and yes, quirky, plot turns.

   I really enjoyed July's last film, Me and You and Everyone We Know. Itwas a pleasant blend of dialogue and original filmmaking. The Future isnot quite as enjoyable because now I am waiting for the next awkwardand quirky conversation to start. Another overarching and enjoyableelement to a July film is a sense of depression and melancholy whichthe characters have. They are neither steadily happy nor sad, but itlooks like they feel some sort of weight in their otherness. Sophie andJason are not like a normal couple. They play silly games likepretending to stop time and agree on a song they would play if one ofthem lost their entire memory.

   Sometimes there can be too much quirky and even for what is a simplefilm, July can get a bit too symbolic and the audience might miss ametaphor or three. However, some of scenes are quite amusing to watchand this film is a breath of fresh air from superhero extravaganzas andanything you find at the local 34 screen multiplex.

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10. 

    Robert Collins from United States
    29 Mar 2012, 2:52 pm

    Miranda July, a woman who is hard to describe, i went to see a talk shewas doing in Sydney when she brought The Future down under to screen atthe Sydney Film Festival and i have to say i haven't ever met or hopeto meet anyone like her, she seems like too much work, she analyzeseverything in an artistic way that is kinda lame if you ask me, butanyway, her previous film Me And You And Everyone We Know was a moviethat i caught late one night on SBS and i was obsessed with it for awhile after, i went straight out and bought the DVD and just watched itrepeatedly because i thought that it was so great. So when The Futurefinally got a cinema release in Australia i went to see it and i mustsay that i was a little let down by it, i don't know if i was in thewrong mood when watching it or something but i just really didn't enjoyit near as much as i thought i would.

    I just found the whole thing to be too hipster and trying to be soarty, trying too hard and failing, there were a few parts that i reallyenjoyed in particular the cat commentary and the scenes with the oldergentleman and the hairdryer, but with the exception of those scenes ifound the whole thing pretty bland. I'm not sure if i just didn't getthe message that was being put across but for me it just didn't workwhich is disappointing because i am a fan of Miranda July's styleusually, i really enjoyed her collection of short stories.

    I mean this movie is going to impress a lot of people i'm sure, howeveri just think its a major step back from the terrific MAYAEWK. If you'rea fan see it, if you're not i wouldn't bother because you most probablywill not enjoy it, i feel bad writing this bad review but "it's just myopinion, and what do i know".

    If you enjoy it, great, if you don't, i told you so.

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