"Mr. Nobody" (2009) He's Nobody, But He's Somebody

The Trailer:

Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Cast: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh Dan Pham, Allan Cordumer
Synopsis: Nemo Nobody, an elder man, recounts his life to a reporter, often confusing the reporter with unclear stories and the, confusing, explaination of his parallel lives.

Holy Mother of Satan, this is the type of movie that is inconceivable on paper and quite impossible to write about without giving too much away. But I'll make an attempt anyway, though I can't talk about plot too much; good thing the plot isn't the only phenomenal aspect of this film.

So we have a man named Nemo Nobody (Nemo, in Latin, means Nobody, so he is literally named Nobody Nobody) who explains that in life there are choices we make that dictate what the rest of our lives will be like, but if we're to make no choice what will become of us? It's an interesting question, one I've often pondered in my own life and one that is shown in the most poignant, beautiful way through this film. And since that is about as far as I'm going to go on plot, I will move directly to the production to which my reaction is "Wow!". There are various settings for the various lives, each detailed and explained— there is always a reason or a choice that lead to these separate parallel lives— stunning cinematography, and more than believable acting by all actors. The settings of each life look lived in. Does that make sense? Like each life had a history and a future, and it is shown through the minute details of the houses, the apartments, the cars, the schools, so on and so on. Each life is fully fleshed out and fits perfectly with the timeline of that particular life. Onto the cinematography. Again, wow! Every scene in Mr.Nobody serves a purpose and hosts so much symbolism with allusions to other scenes and/or other lives that creates this really strange interwoven tale of the various lives of Nemo Nobody. There are these amazing little scenes that take time to explain a concept such as the butterfly effect (a scene near the beginning of the film) that quite literally shows a butterfly flap his wings and what effect that has on the rest of the story and it's shown in this very crisp, easily comprehensible tiny scene. And I just eat that type of stuff up. There are so many expertly crafted and directed scenes throughout the film that are either ethereal, or very tangible, or most surreal (very surreal, think Vanilla Sky), all shot through lenses or filters and all for various purposes, which engrosses us viewers to become totally immersed into this story with the desire to figure out what it all means. And the cherry on top of this most strange cake is the wonderful acting on all parts. Honestly there are too many actors involved in this glorious film but I can say with the most certainty that all of them play their parts to a tee and with such effortless poise. I will single out Jared Leto, though, because through each parallel life and with it's respective version of Nemo, he does such an amazing job and plays them with such passion and confusion and sincerity. He is a true master of his craft. And the way that all of this is brought together— all the lives intertwined, separate, and meshed together in a way that makes it difficult to distinguish each life, the direction, the acting— create this amazing movie that is unlike most films of today.

I will say that Mr. Nobody is not a film for everyone. There's a bit of thinking involved and puzzling moments about it that some movie watchers just don't want to deal with when watching a movie. Additionally, the storytelling is jumpy and never makes sense, not until the very end that is. But if you're a true cinephile and want to see a movie that is well-made and with a more-than-interesting story, and you can get over the non-linear storytelling, this is definitely the film for you! Would I watch it again? Yes, yes, and yes again!