I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Starring: Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, David Thewlis, Guy Boyd, Colbie Minifie, Oliver Platt (voice)
Directed by: Charlie Kaufman
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Jessie Buckley) travels with her boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) during a snowstorm to visit his family on their farm.

Review:

Tim: There are certainly things I loved about Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking of Ending Things. It's another bizarre, surreal journey into the human psyche with some impressive visuals. It's very much a Kaufman movie as we've come to expect it. This is both a strength and a major limiting factor to the film. This is a good movie that boasts some incredible writing, but it ultimately becomes limited due to Kaufman's style. I enjoyed the film and wouldn't be surprised if it was nominated for a few Academy Awards, but it's also not a great film.

Adapted Screenplay is perhaps the movie's best Oscar bet. I would be disappointed if the film didn't receive a nomination here. The writing is superb. There's moments of dialogue where I just shook my head in disbelief. The writing was so strong, I could almost see the words leap off the page. Whether that's some of the stunning banter between the two leads, or the more surreal aspects of the story, the writing is crisp and unforgettable. Kaufman is one hell of a writer and that shows up here. It's a big reason why I enjoyed the film. The weird aspects are fine, the inaccessibility of the plot and symbolism is okay, but when it comes down to it, the script is what separates this movie.

Fortunately, it's not a one-trick pony film. The movie boasts some remarkable performances as well. I've been so excited to see Jessie Buckley's rising star. I enjoyed her in last year's Wild Rose and it seems like she's cropped up everywhere since then. She's incredible here. She gives such an authentic, stripped down performance. There's something so remarkable about her. She comes across as so believable in her role. You relate to her powerfully. Whether that's when you get to hear her thoughts and inner dialogue, or in how she relates to bizarre, unexplained external events, you just feel this strong connection with her. I'm a big fan of her and this is one of her best performances. Jesse Plemons is so good, too. I've liked his work back to his days on Breaking Bad. I know a lot of people love him, but I've never quite been able to go there. I like him, I think he's a good actor, but there's something that stops me from really feeling excitement about him. That's more on me than anything, because he delivers such a good performance here, I had zero complaints. He works so well with Buckley. Many of the best moments of the film are these two in a car, talking. That doesn't seem like it would be as compelling as it is, but when you have two strong actors giving superb performances, it happens.

The supporting cast is solid, too. Toni Collette and David Thewlis add great supporting performances. Their roles called upon them to do quite a lot and both rise to the occasion. Whether that's using makeup to appear at various ages, or creating the sheer wall of awkwardness that often comes with meeting families of your significant other, they were so strong. Guy Boyd added a strong performance, too. He has much less to do than the others, but there's at least a couple of moments where you have to be impressed by what he does. I liked hearing Oliver Platt's voice, but I wouldn't have known it was him without some research. It was nice seeing Colbie Minifie here, too. As a whole, Kaufman assembles a strong cast and definitely gets a lot out of them.

There were so many things I loved about the film. Some of the scenes of Buckley and Plemons driving and talking felt almost magical to me. The dialogue, the ordinariness of it- you don't see extended scenes like that. I loved that Kaufman took the time to go deep into character development. I also went into this film knowing Kaufman was going to throw everything in, subvert our expectations, and deliver a movie that was heartfelt but weird. I have to say, I ultimately didn't love his approach to this film. He has such unique tendencies to his approach, I think he just needed to show a little more restraint. The movie got more and more bizarre as it went on. I spent much of it thinking deeply, trying to figure out what he was doing, what he was trying to say. I felt like I was able to get about halfway there. The animated pig, the dance sequence at the end, I was slightly able to understand. I wouldn't say those scenes were great, though. I think there were other ways to tell a unique story and make it slightly more accessible to the audience. After the movie ended, I had to read what others thought. I did read an article where Kaufman basically explains a lot of the movie. My assumptions and thoughts weren't far off, but of course, there were some things I didn't pick up on.

My issue with the movie is that while some of it is great, Kaufman's insistence on telling these far out, sheer insanity movies ultimately crumbles a bit under the weight of his zaniness. I had fun trying to figure out the puzzle of the film, but my patience finally wore thin. The film was overly long at 2 hours, 14 minutes. By the end of the movie, I appreciate the journey, but I also felt some relief that it was over. I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a good movie, absolutely. It deserves Academy Award nominations. However, it's not close to my top 10 of 2020. It's good, but flawed.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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