LooperSome have said that the future is unwritten, and that what will happen is our choice, something we decide; others have claimed that the future is predetermined, that it is the mere consequence of our behavior, just the next stop on the train. Even in these two diametrically opposed perspectives of the future, there is the fundamental issue that the future remains unknown, that we cannot know what will be until it happens. Looper is a time travel movie, and at the core is this familiar paradox, along with others, which ultimately loops back to the question, "do we have a choice?"
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Looper is the story of Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis), a hitman in the near future, called a "looper". A looper is an assassin who is employed to deal with the killing and disposal of undesirable elements for the mob in the even later future, who send their marks back in time thirty years where Joe takes over with his blunderbuss. Things are going well for Joe, who parties hard, but saves half of his earnings for a nest egg of, well, more partying. But Joe--and loopers like him--are aware of one unique occupational hazard: when a looper takes on his employment, he does so with the knowledge that many years later, he will be sent back to be eliminate...and in a fairly sadistic fashion, to be eliminated by oneself, in what is known as "closing the loop". It would seem that the employment benefits of the looper program is a bit like the antithesis of a 401(k): cash in early, kill yourself later. But for various reasons, it become more clear that there is more to this process than meets the eye; when Joe's older self shows up--who disagrees with the conclusion of this particular arrangement--the paradox at the crux of Looper goes into full swing. Movies about gangsters--as well as hitmen--have been around for a long time, but Looper bridges the gap between the business of the future and that inherent hallmark of organized crime, which is getting around the law by creative means. Joe narrates the only significant exposition we need: time travel has been invented in the late 21st Century--and was promptly made illegal, putting it in the purview of outlaws--and disposing of a body is a relatively difficult process in that time, hence the apparent necessity for the future mob for loopers. Beyond this, Looper doesn't spend a lot of time trying to expound on the wherefores of the science behind time travel--or other novelties of the future, like the existence of a minority of telekinetics--but presents it as a matter of fact. The presence of these elements simply is, just as wifi and Facebook are for us now; we don't even notice life without it. The things which might appear strange in the future--also like payment in gold and silver bars, reengineered retro-styled firearms like the blunderbuss, and even eyedrop-delivered drugs--cement the future as a real place, where normal people don't go waiving their arms around proclaiming it thus, because they are living it, a quality reminiscent of the science fiction works by author Philip K. Dick.
For all of the perils and pitfalls which present themselves to Joe, he is--and always will be--something of a man out of time, an anachronism. Abe (Jeff Daniels), Joe's mob boss from the future, delegated to oversee the Kansas City branch, tells Joe that he dresses in archaic fair (like ties) because he probably "saw it in a movie"; likely, this means that Joe himself is something of a movie buff, with an "affectation" for time and a bit of history...even antiquity, as represented by his pocket watch. But Joe may have missed any adaptations of the New Testament, or he might have been clued into the irony of his stashing of silver--actual silver--for "services rendered", working for Abe. In many ways, Looper is a story about betrayal, such as when Joe's best friend, Seth (Paul Dano) reveals his discovery to Joe about the enigmatic "Rainmaker", a revelation given to him by his own future self, something which sticks with Joe in the end. But Joe is forced to make a hard decision--one of many to come--which is most symbolically represented by his stash of silver, the literal blood money of his trade. Much of the relativity of time and memory is subtly implied in Looper, such as the juxtaposition of the "down home" country setting of Kansas with the urban devastation, suggesting these two worlds are separated not just by geography. But what makes Looper especially daring is how it plays with the idea that the plot itself is hinged on a paradox, where the Joe of the past and the Joe of the future are the same person, but their experiences may not be as parallel as the laws of time would allow--such as we understand them, and even that isn't all that good. So the question becomes "how does this paradox get resolved"? As the pieces of the greater scheme of things become more apparent, so too are the elements, which were concrete before, become more fuzzy, like older Joe's memories of his future (past?) wife, as well as both Joes discovering how far they will go to protect their respective values as they come to blows.
Recommended for: Fans of an action/crime drama with a philosophical sci-fi bent. While Looper deals heavily with time travel, near future, and even telekinesis, there is more to the story about self and sacrifice, with plenty of gunplay and excitement.
For all of the perils and pitfalls which present themselves to Joe, he is--and always will be--something of a man out of time, an anachronism. Abe (Jeff Daniels), Joe's mob boss from the future, delegated to oversee the Kansas City branch, tells Joe that he dresses in archaic fair (like ties) because he probably "saw it in a movie"; likely, this means that Joe himself is something of a movie buff, with an "affectation" for time and a bit of history...even antiquity, as represented by his pocket watch. But Joe may have missed any adaptations of the New Testament, or he might have been clued into the irony of his stashing of silver--actual silver--for "services rendered", working for Abe. In many ways, Looper is a story about betrayal, such as when Joe's best friend, Seth (Paul Dano) reveals his discovery to Joe about the enigmatic "Rainmaker", a revelation given to him by his own future self, something which sticks with Joe in the end. But Joe is forced to make a hard decision--one of many to come--which is most symbolically represented by his stash of silver, the literal blood money of his trade. Much of the relativity of time and memory is subtly implied in Looper, such as the juxtaposition of the "down home" country setting of Kansas with the urban devastation, suggesting these two worlds are separated not just by geography. But what makes Looper especially daring is how it plays with the idea that the plot itself is hinged on a paradox, where the Joe of the past and the Joe of the future are the same person, but their experiences may not be as parallel as the laws of time would allow--such as we understand them, and even that isn't all that good. So the question becomes "how does this paradox get resolved"? As the pieces of the greater scheme of things become more apparent, so too are the elements, which were concrete before, become more fuzzy, like older Joe's memories of his future (past?) wife, as well as both Joes discovering how far they will go to protect their respective values as they come to blows.
Recommended for: Fans of an action/crime drama with a philosophical sci-fi bent. While Looper deals heavily with time travel, near future, and even telekinesis, there is more to the story about self and sacrifice, with plenty of gunplay and excitement.