Subject: REVIEW: 12 MONKEYS (1995)

From: [email-masked] (Richard Haridy)
Date: 16 Dec 1996 15:00:45 GMT

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
    <[email-masked]>