My Kingdom for a Blunderbuss!

As always, a warning about spoilers! Looper, perhaps one of the more anticipated films of the fall, judging by the lines at the theater, does not disappoint. The story is tight and involving, the film has strong performances, and the world built is a believable extension of our own (i.e., they have some flying cars, but most are old beat up hybrids that have solar panels strapped to them. Little details like making not everyone wealthy enough to own expensive gadgetry is a nice touch in an effort towards a sense of believability in this as America’s future).

So, let the spoilers begin! While this is a science fiction story, the strongest element of it is the journey of the main character, and I don’t just mean through time. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a young “looper”, who exterminates people sent back to him by a crime lord in the future (the “Rainmaker”). He knows, as do all loopers, that one day, they will be killing themselves, and thus closing the loop. I won’t go too much into detail, because it’s fun to watch and discover on your own. Needless to say, if you’ve seen the trailer, when Bruce Willis comes back as his future self, Joe can’t kill him, thus setting up the main conflict of the film. What I want to discuss though, is the fact that this film reminds me in certain ways, of some of Hitchcock’s work. Not obviously, so let me explain. As one Hitchcock scholar likes to point out, Hitchcock’s films are all about the journey from personality to person. The characters start out as outlines for people, stereotypes, or personalities. As the film progresses, and their relationships with other people along with it, they become rounded, complete characters. While the plots aren’t meaningless, they are often not the main point. Yes, the narrative is wonderful, but the characters are what make Hitchcock’s films great. I would argue the same about Looper. The story is about a man—junkie, killer, amoral, and incredibly selfish. What he does, and lets happen for money is terrible and he knows it, but can’t let it go. He thinks he can buy his way out of his problems. Even future Joe is the same way. He is still ultimately driven by more selfish motives. But the movie goes on, and in the true personality to person style, Joe develops more and more as his relationships with a young woman (Emily Blunt) and her son grows after he ends up on their doorstep looking for help.

The science fiction and time travel aspects are solid, even though it might be best not to look too closely at this part, as there would be major gaps and pitfalls, as there are in most time travel movies. It avoids a lot of the traps that these other films, while stronger sci-fi, can fall into trying to wrap up all their loose ends because in the end, Johnson reaches in, and virtually makes the time travel moot (he closes a loop in a very nicely executed, not quite deus ex machina move). While it's a great and essential part of the story, it’s not the science fiction that matters the most, but Joe’s journey and personhood, and his relationship to the other characters. Time travel is simply the way he finds himself (although, perhaps ironically, it is not the time traveling self that achieves it). That’s the main loop of the story, and it is brought to a close beautifully as Joe learns to act in someone's interest other than his own. Definitely a movie to see!

Warning: the movie is quite graphic, and is rated R for a reason. I still recommend it highly.