Looper - 2 1/2 smiles

“Looper” is one of those movies with a great cast, a great look and an intriguing story, but by the time it’s over, it’s ‘sound and fury signifying nothing.’ I was clearly disappointed with the last 30 minutes of the film, which raises issues of free will vs. destiny, nature vs. nurture and questionable ethics (would you consider killing a child if you knew it meant saving lives in the future from the monster he might grow up to be?) and then ignores them as the movie rushes to its bloody conclusion.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Joe, a hired assassin whose targets are sent back in time from the future. You see, time travel becomes a reality in the future, but when time machines are outlawed, only outlaws have access to them. And killers like Joe are part of a force led by Abe (Jeff Daniels), a menacing boss from the future. These Loopers, as the killers are called, are handsomely paid and given a retirement that lasts exactly 30 years. Then they are captured, send back in time and killed, thus closing the ‘loop’ of their lives. As the movie opens, a new crime lord, a fearsome gangster known as the Rainmaker, has taken over in the future and is issuing new orders about the existing Loopers: He wants all their future selves sent back in time and killed immediately. When Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) turns up, things get more complicated because at some point, Young Joe and Old Joe are going to have to meet and decide whether they’re going to continue as enemies or allies. The meeting takes place in a diner in the middle of nowhere where they stare at each other over identical plates of steak and eggs.

The best scene in the movie is the diner scene, which crackles with smart dialogue as they discuss sci-fi clichés, especially the idea of meeting each other face to face and its consequences. Gordon-Levitt’s more finely boned face has been fitted with prosthetics to make him more closely resemble Willis. This sorta works and sorta doesn’t. It does make him resemble Willis, a little, but it makes watching him in the scenes without Willis weird because he just doesn’t look like Gordon-Levitt. The mind-bending story that is “Looper” has gotten a lot of critical acclaim and I liked it … up to the last 30 minutes. That’s when it all falls. 10/5/12