09/20/06 What The #$*! Do We (K)now!?

What The #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004), directed by William Arntz & Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Netflix) @ home; suggested by Jenny & Jason

Considering that this film was coined as a radical departure from normal filmmaking, I expected a movie that was going to be strange. Also, going on both the recommendations from two usually trustworthy sources (Jenny & Jason) about this film, I figured it was indeed something that needed to be witnessed by me for entertainment's sake. However, the circumstances under which the film was suggested to me range from a whim (she'd never apparently seen the film, just heard the buzz surrounding it) to that of morbid curiosity (he's quote stated that the movie was "weird...(I) may love it. (I) may hate it." but to just watch it). Rave reviews if you ask me! Becoming partially a live-action drama, partially a scientific documentary, and completely a mind-altering joyride through oddities and intellectual gesticulating. Ummm...the movie is weird, and yes it did have a lot of buzz around it. Neither of those two qualities doth a successful movie make. As far as I can tell, I was sitting in the middle of science class in college...we were learning about quantum physics, uncertainty, and neurological processes...then all of a sudden someone put on a Pink Floyd album, dropped some acid, let CGI experts take over my dreams while reading "Alice In Wonderland" aloud to any Scientologist in the room that was willing to take photographs of a Jackson Pollock painting. You follow? Neither did I. The live-action portion of the film has protagonist Amanda (Marlee Matlin) as a photographer living a boring and mundane life where her encounters with people and within her own head lead her down a path of intellectual and spiritual questioning, unravelling her present state of mind. I'm sure it was fun to be there when the filmmakers pitched this plotline to the suits. Sure, they gave them some complimentary angel dust with the popcorn. Going with the documentary parts to the film, one gets a barrage of facts and terminology from so-called "experts" in the diverse fields of science, learning and thought from various academic and spiritual institutions (with a plethora of fancy degrees to prove it) that delve into the subject of brain function, reasoning and how one perceives life and the afterlife. Seriously, if you didn't know any better, it would seem like this is a Scientology recruitment video set to a pop soundtrack. I'm sure there are subliminal messages all throughout the film, as my brain is still trying to process weeks later what I saw & heard that one day. Just ask Katie Holmes...this must be how Tom Cruise got her hooked. With a combined narrative and animated action sequences, the story poses more questions than answers, but I guess that's the whole point. This is the type of film that will be seen as either revolutionary or completely insane...and it's purpose trying to bridge the synaptic gap between them. Other than a clever way to deliver the goods, what the #$*! do these people know anyway!?

2 out of 5 stars