12 MONKEYS
A film review by Richard Haridy
Copyright 1996 Richard Haridy
Terry Gilliam is certainly an original director. All his films have had the unique Gilliam stamp, from "TIME BANDITS" to "THE FISHER KING". You either like them or hate them. Up till "12 MONKEYS" I did not like Gilliam's movies. The movie his fans call his 'masterpeice', "BRAZIL" I think is a boring mess. I was not impressed by Gilliams writing skill either. The only movie I faintly liked was "THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN" which was fun but let down by a confusing ending.
"12 MONKEYS" is complex, to be sure, the ending is confusing also but unusually satisfying for a movie of this type. I don't like talking about plot so I'll just briefly describe it.
Bruce Willis is James Cole. A prisoner in the future. It seems almost everyone died from a virus in 96-7. Cole is sent back in time to get information. Thats about all I'll say about the plot as it is just one of the elements that make this film fantastic.
Bruce Willis is great ( that feels weird saying ) and Brad Pitt is fantastic ( this guy is turning into a very good actor apart from a few major duds. You could make up a nice list of films he's done, SEVEN, KALIFORNIA, and this ) The major problem of this film ( and that isn't really that big ) is Madeleine Stowe. It could be her acting and it could be just that the part is written rather blankly but there is something that I don't like about the charcter.
Apparently Gilliam gave Willis a list of "Bruce Willis Acting Cliches" to keep the film from becoming more run-of-the-mill. These are the type of cliches that plagued Willis in "PULP FICTION". Gilliam really used Willis unusually in this movie, from drool running out of his mouth ( this actually happens a fair bit ) to him being drugged out of his mind in a mental asylum.
I have seen this film three times now and each time I see it I feel differently about it. The first time I saw it I didn't like it. I was frustrated at the complexity of it and when a film outsmarts me I get pissed off and attack it. So on video I saw it a second time and willed myself to give this film the finger and understand every little thing. Well that is impossible of course but I was much more enlightened about it. I took a page out of Roger Ebert's book and changed my opinion of it. Hereby I urge people to see it again. For it is a film that you will want to talk about with your friends afterwards. I mean there is a lot to discuss ( Time loops, the insurance lady, the fate of the future, and much more)
I don't put a rating on films I just recommend them and I very much recommend this one.
Richard Haridy
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