“We live in memories”, Charlie Kaufman said in a recent interview. My memory of I’m Thinking Of Ending Things as a film is far better than my experience of watching it. Kaufman takes to adapting Iain Reid’s 2016 book, in somewhat of more conventional manner than his meta take on Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief in Spike Jonze’s Adaptation. A tale of memories and miscommunication as we take a ride home and back again in a way that only Charlie Kaufman could tell.
As a chin-stroking teen I lost my mind when I saw Being John Malkovich. At 19 I felt the loss and the anguish of Eternal Sunshine Of Spotless Mind, despite never having had a serious relationship at that point. I was late to Adaptation but the moment I watched it I was amazed that the pretentious film snob I was in my teens had missed and instantly mainlined the films of Charlie Kaufman. What about I’m Thinking Of Ending Things?
Having fallen out of touch with Kaufman, I hadn’t seen Synecdoche, New York (I have now and that’s an entirely different subject altogether), Anomalisa looked tiresome. Perhaps I was just a Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry fan? Excitement was sparked in me when I saw that Charlie Kaufman had a new film coming out. Maybe it’s me nearing 30 and coming to terms with snobbish ways. September 4th felt like moments after first reading about the film’s production (2020, Amirite?), at that point Brie Larson was cast in the lead role. I stayed up late the night before hoping the film would drop on Netflix at the stroke of midnight, no sign of it on the home screen, I hit the search bar. Netflix has guessed what I wanted after only typing; ‘I’m Th…”, Boom we’re in. “Watch Trailer”, I guess we’re not in yet. I hadn’t been this keen to watch a film all year, not to this level. I clenched my eyes tight and waited for morning like a child on Christmas Eve and there it was wrapped up in impossible to open packaging when I woke.
Charlie Kaufman’s third film tells the story of a new couple, played by Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons, going to visit his parents at their rural farmhouse. The pair play brilliantly against each other, Buckley has nervous energy that we see throughout her performance. She seemingly shifts, bends and melts away before our eyes. Her name changes, her voice even her clothes. Whilst watching you feel trapped, like you’re on that staircase that never seems to end, like Buckley’s character you’re looking for answers and at one point I wanted out of that farmhouse too. Jake’s parents (manically played by Toni Colette and David Thewlis) host a crazed dinner party with endless plates of carrots, a forever shaking dog and shifts that even if I tried to explain probably wouldn’t make sense.
Colette and Thewlis are hardly on screen for this films 134 minute runtime, but the time they are there they leave a lasting impression. As Jake’s mother Colette’s crooked smile and wide eyes is something out a nightmare, further proof that she is the rightful queen of the silver screen. All whilst David Thewlis’ character is spiky, argumentative with a underlying sense of menace. He delivers a beautiful and poignant speech to Lucy? Amy? What was her name again? that leaves you hopeful before the film descends into madness once again.
Jesse Plemons plays Jake sweet, the kind of guy you’d hope you’d have a choice encounter with in a bar, sing songs in the car with and have healthy debates with. But even he isn’t as he seems, we all know by now that Plemons is great actor right? We’ve seen Breaking Bad and the subtle menace he can portray on screen. He he does more of the same but whereas his performance as Todd is close to boiling over here as Jake it’s closer to a deep fat frier, the hot oil spits, burns then dissipates.
I went into this film hoping for answers and was left with more questions, it infuriated me. Had I fallen into the Kaufman trap? It sent me on a spiral of looking for answers, I bought the book in hopes I’d find them there. I jumped straight on YouTube and typed; “I’m Thinking Of Ending Things EXPLAINED”, I dived back into his earlier films. Were there answers there? Are there universal themes that run through his work? My head has been in a spin since but looking for answers may not be the right approach. By the time this film clearly descends into complete fantasy, dance sequences, animated pigs, naked janitors and a reenactment of Russell Crowe’s speech for his Oscar winning performance in A Beautiful Mind on the set of a Highschool stage set of Oklahoma you realise there’s a lot going on here.
I came away feeling defeated by Charlie Kaufman, confused by this puzzle box of a film but it hasn’t left my thoughts since. It may leave you lost and infuriated, you may feel smug that you “get it”. However you end up feeling after this film, you’ll definitely feel. Whatever you think about this film, it will definitely have you thinking. I’m thinking I need to watch it again. I need to not look for answers but let the film happen, enjoy would be a strong term to use as it’s in the feels DNA to make you feel uncomfortable and sometimes that is ok.
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