Human Nature (2001)

This movie deconstructs Patricia Arquette to such a harsh degree that you'd wonder why anyone would want to be in such a movie. But apparently actors have no problem in showing it all, despite how ridicules and stupid as this movie could have turned out. For the most part, it was pretty ridicules, but did include a mild level of meaning behind the extremely opposite overmannered prudes and hairy humans jumping around making monkey sounds - we all have primal instincts that we shouldn't always suppress. Just like Charlie Kaufman's previous work, the story focuses on characters who are mostly driven by lust or one insatiable urge. One could consider this poor writing and say that the characters one-dimensional, I say it's almost Shakespearean. But then again, I'm an optimist when it comes to movies.

A good half of the film is rather pretentious and strings together through events and can't really find a comfortable spot between humor and seriousness. The remainder, however, was much more entertaining and more thawed out than Kaufman's last credible screenplay, Being John Malkovich. Though, it wasn't so much the actual story that carried my interest as it was the performances and Michael Gondry's creative direction, which shines mainly on various environments and scenes involving animals for some reason. He seemed to like a pair of lab mice that were trained to use the proper salad fork enough to bring them up in a number of scenes.

The film was enjoyable enough to recommend to those who enjoy quirky humor and lots of nudity on the side. I believe it's also Gondry's first widely released film, which I suppose means something to fans of his particular style. If you looked into it enough, the film could really bend the structure of society, but it's just far too easy to poke fun at than get up and protest about.