While “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” may baffle or frustrate viewers trying to parse it from moment to moment, it also has a clear-cut sense of purpose: Jake, whose childhood room is loaded with books, DVDs, and other detritus from his youth, has so fully absorbed the media surrounding him that it seems to govern every aspect of his reality. The result is a dense, hypnotic narrative so overloaded with information that no first viewing can absorb it in total. “If I don’t allow that to happen, then I end up with something that feels dead to me.” “I don’t know if it was an epiphany or breakdown with ‘Adaptation,’ but since then, I’ve found that I’m most successful with adaptations when I allow myself to take it and do with it whatever makes sense to me,” he said. Kaufman has instead bathed the whole movie in ambiguous signifiers right down the final scene. That climax marks a huge shift from the psychological thriller twist of Reid’s book, which takes a literal-minded turn to explain the moments leading up to it. In the meantime, the school’s old janitor (Guy Boyd) roams those hallways in a lonely routine, eventually crossing paths with the couple for a surreal climax. As this possibility settles in, the couple endure an awkward dinner, then depart for an icy drive home that culminates with a detour to Jake’s high school. As the title implies, Lucy, the narrator, has already considered dropping him. “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” pulls from Canadian writer Iain Reid’s 2016 novel, but Kaufman has taken many liberties with the text, even as the basics of the story remain unchanged: Jake (Jesse Plemons) takes new girlfriend Lucy (Jesse Buckley) on a snowy drive to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis).
Wes Anderson's Best Shots: 30 Perfect Images That Define His CareerĮmmy Predictions: Best Actress in a Limited Series - More Than a Two-Horse Race Rian Johnson's 'Knives Out 2' Eyes Fall 2022 Release from Netflix
It’s the dark reboot humanity deserves after the last several trying years.New Movies: Release Calendar for January 21, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films Let’s not mince words: The estate of the late creator of The Brady Bunch should let James Gunn help Charlie Kaufman realize his dream of a Gilligan’s Island in which (presumably) Gilligan and the Skipper fight over the remains of the Professor, only to both be eaten by wholesome farm girl Mary Ann. “Anyway,” Gunn said, “if the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here.” This time, Gunn claims, the estate of the now-late Schwartz wasn’t having it either. The years passed, and Gunn, having had his own monster hit with the first Guardians of the Galaxy, tried to revive Kaufman’s Gilligan’s Island. Alas, Sherwood Schwartz, the show’s creator (and also the brains behind The Brady Bunch), was not.
Gunn says his version found the islanders “starving & desperate.” Instead of making radios out of coconuts, they “started killing & eating each other.” Improbably, Warner Bros. Kaufman’s Gilligan’s Island was, of course, far from faithful to the source. Anyway, if the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here. It seemed Warners & Charlie were interested but, this time, the estate of the late Sherwood Schwartz nixed it. After Guardians I tried to resurrect the idea & wanted to direct.