LOOPER

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: A-  

Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels

Written and Directed by Rian Johnson

Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Hollywood's current “this guy has star quality, let's try to put him in everything until eventually every hates him” actor, stars as Joe, an ordinairy guy with a not so ordinairy career. It is the year 2042, and Joe is a “Loopers” - a hitman who deals exlusively in disposing of marks sent back, blindfolded and bound, from the year 2072, when time travel will have been invented but outlawed, and law enforcement is strict enough and technolgoy advanced to the point that disposal of a body isn't as simple as it was in the good old days. It's a successful business, and Joe is literally making a killing every day, keeping himself supplied in money, drugs and women. But there is a catch: the average career of a Lopper only last 30 years, at which point the mob bosses “close the loop” by sending the future version of the Looper back to be disposed of by his past self, who then gains instant retirement and enough gold to live it up aborad for the next thirty years. As Joe observes, “this job deosn't exactly attract the forward thinking type.”

Needless to say, the time comes when Joe's loop is meant to be closed, but his future self (played by Bruce Willis) somehow shows up without a blindfold and with his hands untied. He manages to over power his younger self and sets off on the run, and it's up to Joe to kill Joe so that Joe can get his life back. But unfortunately for Joe, it seems that Joe has other ideas.

LOOPER is atmospheric and filled with solid performances, with a stellar cast that also includes Emily Blunt, Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels, and plays a bit like “Tarantino does Terminator.” It's dark and violent time travel moviefull of drugs, mob hits and debauichery – but also a sense of thoughtfulness and an underlying intelligence that sets it far about what it could have been.

Much talk has been made out of Leavitt's prosthetic and CGI altered face, desinged to make him look more like a young Bruce Willis, and while it is distracting at first, it's a very well executed effect and is far more convincing than the mad wig seen on Willis is flashback (Flashforward? Flashforward of a flashback?). Leavitt has consistantly delivered stellar performances ever since 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, and in particular, a scene between Leavitt and Willis meeting face to face at a dinner, in what might be a nod to the meeting of Pacino and De Niro in Michael Mann's HEAT, is quite entertaining.

Some aspects of the story play better than others, and a plot involving a growing number of the population developing telenetic powers felt a bit sloppy to me. In addition, it's both a strength and weakness that the movie keeps you contantly trying to figure who, if anyone, you should be rooting for in this story – no one is entirely likable, but in their own way they are all sympathetic. If you are willing to stick it out until the payoff, it's an entertaining and sometime sthought provoking ride, and likely to be one of the best films of the fall season.

LOOPER is rated R for strong, brutal violence, a steady stream of profanity, and some nudity.