Human Nature

What stands out first about Human Nature is the confidence with which Michel Gondry establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Human Nature asks Tim Robbins and Patricia Arquette to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Human Nature is established with useful clarity: A woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as a chimpanzee. That direct approach lets Human Nature use its 1h 36m running time for character, atmosphere and consequence.

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At story level, Human Nature turns the central character and an important relationship into the source of its main tension. The role played by Tim Robbins becomes the viewer's route through Human Nature, especially when a difficult choice begins to alter the situation. Charlie Kaufman gives Human Nature momentum by allowing choices to create consequences instead of treating each scene as isolated information. Even when the wider conflict pushes the plot toward familiar ground, Human Nature remains attentive to what that pressure means for its characters.

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Tim Robbins gives Human Nature its most dependable performance, finding a clear emotional intention beneath the plot. Opposite Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette brings Human Nature a contrasting pace that prevents the central relationship from feeling flat. Rhys Ifans widens the ensemble of Human Nature through reactions that suggest a life beyond the immediate scene. Michel Gondry serves the cast of Human Nature best when a look or pause is allowed to finish before the story moves on.

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The central idea running through Human Nature concerns embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. Tim Robbins gives that idea a human scale, allowing Human Nature to remain accessible even when its world becomes larger. By returning to a difficult choice, Human Nature turns theme into a source of pressure rather than a message waiting to be delivered. The handling by Michel Gondry lets Human Nature leave a little interpretive room, which gives its better scenes an afterlife.

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The craft of Human Nature is defined by well judged reactions, supported by well judged reactions rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Fine Line Features gives Human Nature a production framework in which performer rhythm can remain connected to story. Made from a France production context, Human Nature uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Human Nature works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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Michel Gondry shapes Human Nature with an approach that feels engaging in bursts but unable to maintain the same control. The best directed passages in Human Nature establish an objective, let the characters respond and then allow the pressure to change naturally. Worthwhile ideas compete with an uneven structure in Human Nature, particularly when Michel Gondry resists the urge to underline an already clear emotion. My main reservation about Human Nature is that the pace alternates between hurry and drift, a limitation that interrupts rather than defines the experience.

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For comedy fans who respond to personality and timing, Human Nature is ultimately a qualified recommendation. Its most persuasive combination in Human Nature brings Tim Robbins together with performer rhythm under the direction of Michel Gondry. The fact that the pace alternates between hurry and drift prevents Human Nature from being entirely seamless. Even with that reservation, Human Nature has a clear point of view and enough genuine feeling to justify the journey.