A downward spiral paced out in humans globally experiencing the loss of one sensory avenue at a time, Perfect Sense is a study of increasing depravity through a pair of lovers who adaptively appreciate each other the best they can as the world erodes around them.
Michael (Ewan McGregor) is an average playboy bachelor but an exceptional chef. One day he bums a smoke off super-smart epidemiologist Susan (Eva Green), whose apartment is conveniently located across the street from the back door of his restaurant. This happens shortly after a public disclosure that people are inexplicably losing their sense of smell. There is no cause for alarm yet, but nobody can figure out why it's happening, or how the problem spreads; only that it's preceded by a brief period of insatiable hunger.
Next in line is the loss of hearing, which seems to occur after the patient in question unleashes an incredible amount of rage. The definitions of each impending loss are provided by what appear to be generic public service announcements by an uninterested camera working for government news sources in third world countries.
While the relationship between Michael and Susan develops swiftly, and the attraction is even believable, the rest of the narrative is a mess of undirected negativity about how people treat each other under duress. The writing is also inexcusably irresponsible: Susan is a scientist specializing in such circumstances, but for some reason she never actually wrestles with these accumulating health problems, instead focusing all of her attention on how awful the men in her life have been. Having finally found someone she genuinely enjoys spending time with, she still never pursues solutions to the mounting catastrophe. This enormous character deficiency defies all logical storytelling, and also manages to cut much of the sympathy for the couple's increasingly claustrophobic situation.
The acting is perfectly tuned for the elements of the story that are given, but the actual sequence of events never becomes compelling enough to keep anyone engaged. This is due in part to the uninterrupted depression that is only ever broken up by the couples' sexual interactions. The situation that surrounds them is never balanced with even a breath of a good moment, the insertion of a well-intended action, or a singular scientific discovery. The stale introductions of each degenerative phase only encourage more dissociation, denying the leads' journey the weight of doom we're supposed to be privy to, and making light of their ability to connect regardless of their impossible condition.
What could have been a morally provocative excursion becomes a draining, lifeless, painful loss of an hour and a half. As enjoyable as it would normally be to see the attractive McGregor cooking in every way, Perfect Sense fails to deliver anything that could contribute to relational discourse.
Reviewed as part of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
Michael (Ewan McGregor) is an average playboy bachelor but an exceptional chef. One day he bums a smoke off super-smart epidemiologist Susan (Eva Green), whose apartment is conveniently located across the street from the back door of his restaurant. This happens shortly after a public disclosure that people are inexplicably losing their sense of smell. There is no cause for alarm yet, but nobody can figure out why it's happening, or how the problem spreads; only that it's preceded by a brief period of insatiable hunger.
Next in line is the loss of hearing, which seems to occur after the patient in question unleashes an incredible amount of rage. The definitions of each impending loss are provided by what appear to be generic public service announcements by an uninterested camera working for government news sources in third world countries.
While the relationship between Michael and Susan develops swiftly, and the attraction is even believable, the rest of the narrative is a mess of undirected negativity about how people treat each other under duress. The writing is also inexcusably irresponsible: Susan is a scientist specializing in such circumstances, but for some reason she never actually wrestles with these accumulating health problems, instead focusing all of her attention on how awful the men in her life have been. Having finally found someone she genuinely enjoys spending time with, she still never pursues solutions to the mounting catastrophe. This enormous character deficiency defies all logical storytelling, and also manages to cut much of the sympathy for the couple's increasingly claustrophobic situation.
The acting is perfectly tuned for the elements of the story that are given, but the actual sequence of events never becomes compelling enough to keep anyone engaged. This is due in part to the uninterrupted depression that is only ever broken up by the couples' sexual interactions. The situation that surrounds them is never balanced with even a breath of a good moment, the insertion of a well-intended action, or a singular scientific discovery. The stale introductions of each degenerative phase only encourage more dissociation, denying the leads' journey the weight of doom we're supposed to be privy to, and making light of their ability to connect regardless of their impossible condition.
What could have been a morally provocative excursion becomes a draining, lifeless, painful loss of an hour and a half. As enjoyable as it would normally be to see the attractive McGregor cooking in every way, Perfect Sense fails to deliver anything that could contribute to relational discourse.
Reviewed as part of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
