Good film

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2012)

What is the perfect crime? I don't know if killing men sent from the future, and therefore unidentifiable, qualifies, but it's certainly close. Of course, if you should screw up somehow, those same people would know immediately. What then?
It's 2044, and while time travel has yet to be invented, those in the future use it to their advantage by sending individuals who threaten their business interests back to that time where they can be eliminated by men awaiting their arrival. The men who execute these unfortunate individuals are known as loopers. Joe Simmons (played by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt) is one such man. Simmons (Gordon- Leavitt) is in the employ of a mafia boss in Kansas City who he calls Abe (played by Jeff Daniels). Abe (Daniels) was sent back in time to manage the organization's hired guns as well as their other illicit operations as only someone from the future is uniquely equipped to do. When loopers have outlived their usefulness, they are sent back to be executed their younger self who receive payment in the form of gold rather than the customary silver. This is referred to as "closing your loop". In his spare time, Joe abuses drugs, maintains an intimate relationship with a showgirl named Suzie (played by Piper Perabo), frequents a club owned by his employer and is studying French to prepare for his eventual retirement in France. Things start going awry when Seth (Joe's friend and a fellow looper played by Paul Dano) is confronted with the task of closing his loop and fails. His superiors are more than a little displeased by this and so Seth goes to Joe, hoping his friend will hide him. Eventually, Seth is found, maimed, and his now disfigured older self is executed. This is after Seth and Joe both learn that a crime boss known only as The Rainmaker is behind the recent rash of closing loops. As Joe resumes his usual routine, he too is given the task of closing his loop when his older self (portrayed by Bruce Willis) appears before him. Joe's younger self cuts a message into his arm so that he can discuss the situation with his older self. Old Joe (Willis) confirms that The Rainmaker exists and is closing loops, in addition to killing the woman Joe would eventually marry. Both Joes are attacked by men working for their employer and flee, neither intending to do anything other than the task they set out to. Old Joe's being to kill The Rainmaker's younger self, young Joe's being to close his loop.
Obviously, this is a very complicated story. It's made even more so by characters I haven't mentioned yet. One of them played by the always talented Emily Blunt, the other by child actor and relative newcomer Pierce Gagnon. That said, I found it surprisingly good and highly entertaining. The complicated and paradoxical nature of sending someone back in time to be executed by their younger self as well as other questions about time travel are complicated and that is dealt with by a rather humorous line and then never brought up again. Thankfully. The story is gripping, the performances top-notch, and the conclusion leaves the audience wanting more and wondering what's next. This is a great film.