Rating: 
Summary: virtually humorless attempt at satire
Review: "Human Nature" shows what can happen when a couple of filmmakers allow critical acclaim for a previous work to go to their heads. Writer Charlie Kaufman and co-producer Spike Jonze were the creative forces behind the almost universally praised "Being John Malkovich" from a few years back (Jonze was the director of that film actually, while Michael Gondry gets that credit on this film). "Offbeat" and "bizarre" were probably the mildest terms one could apply to that movie, but no matter how utterly insane the proceedings became, one could never fault "Being John Malcovich" for being a messy, undisciplined work. "Human Nature" is another case altogether. Kaufman seems to have fallen into the trap of believing that, as long as you have at least some unifying theme upon which to hang your unconventional components, you are free to put pretty much anything you want up on the screen and get away with it. Guess again. The theme Kaufman has chosen to explore is that old chestnut about how humans, in their attempt to deny their ancestral association with the animal kingdom, are always working to suppress their natural instincts under the weight of "civilization" and "culture." All the characters in this film are, in one way or another, trying to repress either their own basic animal nature or trying to repress someone else's. Thus we have beautiful Patricia Arquette portraying a young woman who, through a hormonal fluke that seems to harken back to humanity's evolutionary connection with our fellow primates, has had to endure (from puberty on up) a body almost completely covered by hair. Therefore, she spends most of her adult life undergoing painful electrolysis treatments under the patient and sympathetic tutelage of Rosie Perez. The irony is that Arquette, even after she has come to accept her natural state, realizes that she can only get her sexual needs met if she conforms to society's standards of physical beauty. Tim Robbins plays a bizarre cross between Charles Darwin and Professor Henry Higgins as a researcher who lives to make animals more human-like in their behavior and finds his most intriguing challenge in a man the two of them discover living on his own in the wild - having been raised by his deranged father to believe he actually IS an ape (Rhys Ifans plays the human guinea pig). He, too, finds that he can only achieve sexual gratification if he, paradoxically, plays by civilized society's rules. It's hard to know whether or not this particular material could ever have been successfully realized on screen, no matter who thought it up Perhaps the imagery - of a hirsute Arquette, of a naked Ifans - is simply too unappealing and unpleasant to raise any emotion other than disgust in the viewer. Perhaps it is the obvious, heavy-handed nature of the theme or the chintzy way in which it is visualized that keeps the concept earthbound. Whatever the cause, "Human Nature" thuds along from one unfunny scene and moment to the next, doing little but embarrassing these otherwise fine actors and actresses in the process. Recently, in an earlier review, I lamented the fact that there seemed to be no end to bad reworkings of the "Pygmalion" story - and, alas, "Human Nature" can now be added to that growing list of hopeless failures. The only consolation, in fact, may be that George Bernard Shaw is not around to have to witness them all. Perhaps now we can finally move on to fresher territory.
Rating: 
Summary: A Kaufmanesque Classic
Review: A unique film in every sense of the word. If you enjoy Kaufman's other films, you should definitely check this out. It may not be as funny as Being John Malkovich or as clever as Adaptation, but it is by far, one of the strangest films I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: A Kaufmanesque Classic
Review: A unique film in every sense of the word. If you enjoy Kaufman's other films, you should definitely check this out. It may not be as funny as Being John Malkovich or as clever as Adaptation, but it is by far, one of the strangest films I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: flawed but funny most of the time...
Review: Almost as strikingly original as Kaufmann's other screenplays ("Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation,") what this film lacks is a director of Spike Jonze's mastery to bring it to the screen. Michel Gondry while competent is not quite there yet, which results in a number of awkward, slow scenes and dead spots along the way---especially at the end, which turned embarassingly cornball until the last 10 seconds.
Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, and the yummy Miranda Otto all put in solid performances but again you get the feeling that all three would be capable of far better under a more talented director. Robbins especially seems to be phoning his part in; he isn't asked for much, and delivers it.
The main saving grace of this film is its acerbic social commentary and gloriously jaded, anarchistic ideas regarding its title: "human nature" as well as the "nurture" (i.e. social programming) which largely mass-produces it. The last second twist-ending is a nice cherry on top.
While certainly funny and entertaining especially during the first half, this is a movie I'd only rent, not buy.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a snoozer, I recommend ICEMAN (1984) instead.
Review: Boring! Boring! Boring! So boring I almost feel asleep at 6:30pm. Instead of this snoozer, I highly recommend ICEMAN (1984). Only surprise in this film is dwarf actor Peter Dinklage. If they ever wanted to make a parody of Gilligan's Island, they could use Rhys Ifans as the new Gilligan. Well, maybe not.
Rating:
Summary: Planet of the Apes
Review: Coming off the unquestioned success that was "Being John Malkovich", Charlie Kaufman (and Spike Jonze, who produces here) again brings us a comedy that'll have you scratching your head in wonderment, your mouth agape in awe, and your belly laughing hysterically, even though you're not quite sure if what you're seeing is really all that funny. "Human Nature", like "BJM", is a film that's tough to define, tough to comprehend, but not so tough to enjoy. It's a film that purports to be one about big ideas -- concerning, duh, human nature -- but that really doesn't give much weight to those ideas. I got the feeling that the ideas were just the hanger off which Kaufman and Co. could drape comic set-pieces, gags, and pratfalls. If you look at it as an intellectual exercise, it does not work. But as a loony farce, it's terribly hilarious, in a rather bent sort of way. One of my favourite sequences shows the ridiculous tableaus Dr. Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins) and his assistants assembled inside the observation cage of Puff (Rhys Ifans), a feral man found in the woods. At one point, a fake fireplace turns up; later, we see Puff in an opera box seat, dressed in tuxedo and clapping enthusiastically to the sounds coming out of a portable radio. Another favourite moment shows the comic repression essayed by Nathan's parents, played with deadpan glee by Robert Forster and Mary Kay Place. Director Michel Gondry doesn't mimic the baroque expressiveness that Spike Jonze found in "Being John Malkovich". Instead, he goes for stark cartoonery. Watch as Ifans flies through the air more than a dozen times after being zapped by an electronic collar. Or the sweet (and subversive) song Lila (Patricia Arquette) delivers as an ode to her hyper-hirsuteness. Or Robbins, recounting his part of the story, ignorantly repeating the same silly joke over and over until the audience is forced to laugh at him. "Human Nature" makes no attempt at reconstructing reality; instead it focuses all its energies on creating a reality, one that's malleable and morbid, twisted but bright. Kaufman's script plays more like a series of Saturday Night Live skits than a follow up to the nineties' most popular existential cult classic. He revels in his one-joke characters, but makes sure that the one-joke is as strong as can be (the central conceit of Ifans character, that he was raised in the woods by a man who "thought" he was an ape, was enough in itself to draw me to the film). And except for what he gives to Robbins' character (who's speeches, even though they're *meant* to be ultra-formal, were still often distracting and clumsy), the dialogue is fresh and frequently funny. "Eet izz like 'Sophie's Choice'," says Nathan's assistant, Gabrielle. "Exzept no, eet izz 'Nathan's Choice'." The narrative he's constructed skips and swings all over the place, unburdened by any and all film conventions. It's told from three different perspectives, testimonial style, a technique that doesn't work in the film's nascent stages, but does as it nears its conclusion. And it gives the audience ample opportunity to get to know the three main characters, independently and as a unit. Robbins, in the beginning, appears ill at ease playing Dr. Bronfman. In much of the comic work he's turned in over his career, Robbins is fine at playing idiotic idiot-savants ("The Hudsucker Proxy", "Bull Durham"). But he tends to have trouble with quiet solemnity ("The Shawshank Redemption") even when it's within the context of a farce like this one. As the movie moves along, though, Robbins takes centre stage -- he is the sun in this particular universe; all the other actors revolve around him -- and he becomes more relaxed. And more funny, even during his straighter moments. Arquette plays Lila's discomfort and pathos well, and gets her innocence just right. And she's super sexy, even when covered top to toe by hair. In the film's middle third, when her obsessions take over and she's meant to be soulless and creepy, you still can't help feeling for her, caught in such a ridiculous predicament. And more so in this one than in her other films, Arquette's stalactite teeth appear to be a character all to themselves. Gondry films her erratic mouth in such a way that the audience feels a threat of attack (an odd character point, that). Ifans, in the film's most showy role, steals the show. But he doesn't do it in an outlandish way. He could have barged around the set, grunting and groaning, and relying on his bare bottom to draw as many laughs as possible. But instead, Ifans has to play sophistico and Cro-Magnon, sometimes all in one scene, and always subtly. He is achingly funny, terribly tragic, cold and manipulative, open and warm-hearted. An egoless actor in a spindly naked Englishman's body, Ifans is perfectly cast and perfect in execution. While not as easy a crowd-pleaser as Kaufman's previous work, "Human Nature" has its fair share of oddball moments. Enough so that anyone looking for another iconoclastic romp will do well enough if they look here.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting from beginning to end
Review: Everyone should see this film. It's human/social commentary. Kaufmann has such a wonderful, deep, intelligent sense of humor. Very entertaining. Interesting from beginning to end. And I'm always amazed at how perfect the casting is for Kaufman's movies.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting from beginning to end
Review: Everyone should see this film. It's human/social commentary. Kaufmann has such a wonderful, deep, intelligent sense of humor. Very entertaining. Interesting from beginning to end. And I'm always amazed at how perfect the casting is for Kaufman's movies.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked 'Being John Malkovich' you'll love this
Review: I got the chance to see 'Human Nature' in France last September and I have to say those who are fans of Gondry's work (Daft Punk, Bjork etc) will be far from disapointed.
Surreal, hilarious, visually thought provoking and inspirational, well written, excellently acted. What more can I say!?
Even though it's on limited release, make the time to go this, if you like a film that's a break from the norm and with an original (yet absurd!) idea go see. An absolute must.
Rating:
Summary: A VISSUAL SO POWERFULL, SO BEAUTY, MICHEL GONDRY........
Review: I haven't see this film yet, but the team taht made it is the best team of director/designers/artist/writer/ect/etc, right now. Beacause Michel Gondry's Videos are so beautiful and so original, so well made, I have no words to describe the talent of Michel Gondry, is my favorite music videos director of all time. Did you see Hyperbalad/Army of me/Let forever be/ Protection/ Like a Rolling Stone/ Yoga/ Bachelorrette/ Isobel/ Knives Out/ Sugar Water/ etc etc etc/ if you see it you know the quality of Michel Gondry and his team and you are like me waiting to see this movie. If you haven't run and buy VOLUMEN BJORK. The videos are soo great I can't wait to see this movie I know it will be excelent. Sorry for this stupid review but people have to know this great director...
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