MR. NOBODY (2009)

The different subplots in MR. NOBODY aren't a total bore, but they're not interesting enough to justify the 157-minute running time. The title character (his first name is Nemo) sees 3 girls that he will marry in alternate futures. There was definitely a lack of effort when writing the one named Jeanne. She's so devoid of personality that it's like she's not even there. Would the movie not have worked with 2 scenarios instead of 3? Also, when the girls wear the same dress but with different colors, Jeanne (who's Asian) wears the yellow one. Hmmm... OK, maybe that one is just a coincidence. Elise on the other hand is an emotional and psychological mess. Wouldn't it have been more complex if all the wives had a positive personality? Anna could've still been "the one," but it wouldn't have been so obvious. Another badly-written character is a nameless journalist that talks to Nemo when he's 118 years old, because he does nothing but question his recounting. It's repetitive and, at a certain point, it becomes hard to believe his presence. I mean, can't he leave with the information he already has and figure out how to complete his article later? The use of montages is also repetitive. Some songs are even played more than once. I know there's a thematic purpose, but that can be solved by playing parts of each song at different points rather than playing the majority or even the entirety over and over. Keep in mind: They're the kind of tunes that can easily annoy even if you hear them once. Why do so many movies and shows about parallel universes/timelines have a railway station at the core? Are there no other ways to show that one decision (in this case, getting on a train or not) will change everything? Speaking of, seeing the protagonist literally at a crossroad is very on the nose. Luckily, the rest of the movie is more subtle with its symbolism, which is well-executed thanks to Christophe Beaucarne's cinematography and Sylvie Olivé's production design. Jared Leto's performance in the adult scenes are good, but during the elderly scenes, he plays his character like a cartoon. It's ironic that Tony Regbo and Juno Temple (who look like they could be siblings in real life) play the teenaged version of Nemo & Anna (they're step-siblings who insist that their relationship isn't incestuous because they started to have feelings for each other before they knew their parents were dating).

5/10
-------------------------------------
You can read comments of other movies in my blog.