Limited release of a film means one of two things: It's wonderful enough that word of mouth alone will make it a success, or it's so bad that it can't risk paying for too many prints. \Human Nature"" had all the potential to be the former'a successful writer, a fresh director with a great track record in music videos and commercials--but, man, is this film a disappointment! Floundering somewhere between comedy, dark comedy and anti-comedy, the latest film from the writer of ""Being John Malkovich"" doesn't know if it wants to make you laugh, think or wait for something to happen.
Charlie Kaufman's sophomore screenplay shifts between heavy morals and the randomly strange. It's narrated by all three of its main characters, one of whom is in purgatory with a bullet in his head. Patricia Arquette plays a nature writer ashamed of the hormonal imbalance that covers her entire body with hair. She falls in love with Tim Robbins, a scientist whose dysfunctional upbringing makes him intent on teaching table manners to mice. He also teaches antiquated etiquette to Rhys Ifans, a wild man found by the two of them. Then there's an affair, kidnapping and murder and lots of hairy, hairy nudity.
I guess the idea must have been that Kaufman was such a good writer, as proven by his last film, that a purely visual director could take the reigns and succeed. Unfortunately, the writing is rambling and not funny, and no one other than Ifans puts any effort into their character. Robbins plays it with a strange breathy accent and a clock-punching attitude. And, the blandest of the Arquettes must have been the only actress willing to have hair glued onto her boobs. All in all, there are a few laughs, but not enough to compensate for all the effort put into the setup.
The real tragedy of the whole thing is the wasting of the hugely talented director Michel Gondry. He's the visual genius behind the ""Around the World"" video for Daft Punk, all the best Bj??rk videos and the slick animated Lego's video for the White Stripes. This guy's just too damn cool to get stuck making such a mediocre feature. You may not be able to tell from my ability to type, but I am jaw-dropped and speechless.
You can still see Gondry's hand in it at points. Shots of stars behind beautifully artificial trees and faces floating through dark blue water are pulled directly from his ""Human Behavior"" video. He does the funniest things with books and repetition of pictures, almost as well as ""The Royal Tenenbaums."" And, he gets amazing performances from computer animated mice, though they seem to have run out of money towards the end for animation. Unfortunately, Gondry is stuck with an awkward script in science labs and apartments, and rarely can he escape to the wilderness to have fun with the film's visuals.
I'm sorry that I can't recommend ""Human Nature,"" but I can tell you how to find better stuff by Michel Gondry. Bj??rk's videos are collected on a DVD called ""Volumen."" It's one of my favorite DVDs of all time. Also, Daft Punk has a DVD of their videos called ""D.A.F.T."" Gondry is just genius piled upon genius on both.
