Film Reviews

The Future

• Rating:
• Director: Miranda July
• Starring: Hamish Linklater
• Details: US/Germany / 91mins (15A).

No, not a Sci-Fi, more a 'worrying about' romantic drama. Independent filmmaker Miranda July (You, Me And Everyone We Know) writes, directs and stars is this oddball (that word is going to pop up here again) love story that revels in its 'indieness' when it should have been concentrating on its 'storyness'. Oh, and there is a bit of Sci-Fi in there but only a bit.
Sophie (July) and Jason (Linklater) are an odd couple: they talk and act like children who woke up one morning as adults and are only now just about getting the hang of things. Stuck in a rut – she's a dance teacher, he's a computer technician – the couple decide to adopt a stray cat to inject some purpose into their lives. Forced to wait thirty days by the animal adoption agency until the cat recovers from its injuries, Jason uses the time to leave his job and wait until another one happens by, which turns out to be working for an environmental charity. Sophie meanwhile meets Marshall (Warshofsky) and love blossoms...
The Future, like its protagonists, has that flakey vibe to it, as if it's made by and aimed at those kind of people who wear fairy wings to a party even though it's not fancy dress. The kind of people who corner you in the kitchen of said party with bizarre beliefs that painting the world salmon pink – tonight! - is the only chance to save it. The kind of people who would suggest that this film should be narrated by the sickly cat the couple want to adopt. It should come as no surprise then that that actually happens: the crackly, childish voiceover (July supplies the voice) contemplates life as it waits patiently for its new owners to take it home.
There are moments where The Future works: the oddball happenings can be endearing, there are cute insights like Jason's "I always thought I'd be smarter" and the ending is totally unexpected. It's always great to know that there are others out there who too fear of what tomorrow will bring – like a Morrissey song, there's a comfort in that someone else is going through exactly the same thing. July also treats us to a wonderfully odd dance inside a yellow T-shirt.
However, it's full of half-formed ideas that never come to fruition and moves as such a deathly slow pace it never really gets anywhere – The Future is almost halfway over before the plot shakes itself into life and even then it's reluctant to do anything about it. Infuriating.

Review by Gavin Burke