It Takes Two

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2016)

(RATING: ☆☆☆½ out of 5)
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: A partly successful mix of surreal satire with some very perceptive moments.
GRADE: B-
SYNOPSIS: A man must choose his fate and form in a dystopian society obsessed with coupling.
JIM'S REVIEW: The Lobster takes an absurd comic premise and reworks it into a dark satire about love and relationships. Set in the not-to-distant future, David (Colin Farrell), a recently divorced Loner, has an urgent need to find a new partner. Why the deadline, you may ask? No, it's not due to his loneliness causing him to go directly into the dating pool to find another soulmate (although he is a sad and desperate man)...it's just that he must connect with another human being in order to survive. At least, in his present form. You see, this totalitarian government stipulates that unless he gets a girl, within 45 days, he will be turned into another species..a dog, a lion, a lobster...that, at least, will be his choice in this brave new world.
￼Director / Writer Yorgo Lanthimos creates a bizarre and compelling film, although he tests the patience of many moviegoers with his purposely ambiguous detours in his plot. The film is quite effective in its first half as David checks into a resort that prides itself on transformation and conformity. Irony is layered in its thick impasto strokes of surreal imagery and intellectual musings about society's obsession with coupling and partnership. Less successful is the film's second section which begins to meander and lose its way (just like its main character does). Yet the talented Mr. Lanthimos brings forth clever insights and a unique narrative to his Orwellian tale.
￼The international cast works within the limits of their unusual characters. Colin Farrell portrays David nicely as a pawn in the scheme of things while other fine actors, like Rachael Weisz, Ben Whishaw, John C. Reilly, Lea Seydoux, and Olivia Coleman bring solid support to this odd yet thought-provoking film.
￼But it is Lanthimos' screenplay (co-authored with Efthymis Filippou) that relies on the vague notion of obedient submissiveness that remains unclear from the start. The film lacks genuine pathos and subtle humor, never allowing its interesting subject to fully resonate. Characters remain one dimensional and their actions baffling and strange. Except for David, everyone is nameless...Nosebleed Woman, Lisping Man, Biscuit Woman, Limping Man, Short-Sighted Woman, etc. This may be an intentional decision by the filmmaker, but it does give a slight artsy silliness to the whole venture. And let's not even discuss the film's enigmatic and disappointing denouncement!
However, Lanthimos is a far better director than storyteller. His use of slow motion techniques, poetic voiceovers, and mix of classical and atonal music gives his film an eerie otherworldly sense of time and place. He has his actors deliver that lines with flat readings and very little emotion which somehow works to his advantage in creating a loveless universe.
￼The Lobster is the type of film that will garner critical praise but leave the average moviegoer questioning the film's overall effect. Its characters are a passive and soulless lot, even if this filmgoing experience rarely achieves its complex goal.
Still The Lobster is a noble effort by a gifted filmmaker worthy of one's attention.
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