12 Monkeys (1995)

: Sweet Potato


Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt

This film is a Sci-Fi mystery thriller that presents a future world where the human population has been decimated by a virus and the remaining population lives underground, while the animals have taken over topside. James Cole (Bruce Willis), a prisoner in the year 2035, is sent back to 1996 to determine the source of the virus, with the promise of a pardon if he succeeds. He is first mistakenly sent back to the year 1990, where he runs afoul of the law and is placed in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnoses of schizophrenia. Here he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), who feels like she has met him before, and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), a mentally imbalanced (let’s just say he’s whacko) patient. I have to say, I’ve never seen Brad Pitt in a role quite like this one; he’s really something! Cole disappears, literally, from the hospital and turns up six years later, having been retrieved and resent to the correct time. As the story progresses, Cole becomes dependent on Dr. Railly, emotionally and logistically. There is a point where he becomes uncertain, confused, about his own reality, which leads the viewer to also experience a paradigm shift. Now the question is what is real and where is the story really taking you? I don’t want to give anything away, so I will say no more, except that I really liked this odd but intriguing movie. Bruce Willis handled the more vulnerable role quite well, and the story takes some interesting turns. It’s like a potato casserole with multiple flavors blending to make a tasty concoction, even if you aren’t quite sure what’s in it.

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