Circle of One

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2012)

Time travel conundrum action flick from writer/director Rian Johnson whose debut feature, BRICK, is one of the most super-hip, ultra-quirky and subversive modern noir detective flicks ever made. If Raymond Chandler had been a high school slacker in waiting in the 21st century, BRICK is something he would have written. Needless to say, I like it and rate it highly, and was the primary motivation in my wanting to watch this offering.
LOOPER is a bigger budgeted sci-fi thriller with some celebrity muscle in the cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels) and some studio monetary polish shining the surface. The hook is that in the near future criminals from the more distant future are sent back in time to be executed by hit men called Loopers, thus all evidence of the killings are erased from that distant future time. Loopers are well paid for this service, but there comes a day of reckoning when the act of "closing the loop" may be visited upon them, involving their own future selves being sent back for the chop. Joe (Gordon-Levitt) is a Looper whose future self (Willis) is sent back but doesn't want to play ball and goes on the run. This leaves Joe with the prickly problem of having to find and kill his future self whilst evading capture by his fellow criminals. The narrative is further complicated when Joe meets young mother Sara (Blunt) and her son Cid on their isolated farm. Cid it seems has a big part to play in Joe's future destiny, but what, exactly?
LOOPER is fast-paced, thoughtful and well-executed. The paradoxes and complexities of time-travel theory are neatly glossed over and generally airbrushed out so they don't give the audience a distracting and perplexing headache.
The way in which Gordon-Levitt and Willis play the same character at different ages is masterfully handled through shared physical similarities, vocal inflexions and mannerisms and some pretty nifty acting and interplay from the two leads. This adds a great deal of credibility to the proceedings, helping to suspend disbelief significantly.
Ultimately, it is slick hokum, yet has a degree of heart and soul with a nice twist of sacrifice and redemption thrown in. Johnson is sure-footed in most of his moves here and at least delivers something a decent cut above the low-brow common-denominator. Oh, and Jeff Daniels scene steals like the clued-in pro he is â€“ always worth a look.