Of all the global outbreak and/or apocalyptic movies out there, "Perfect Sense" takes the cake for most unique premise: an epidemic with seemingly no scientific basis begins to rob people of their senses one sense at a time. For a romance, this is a rather broad way to explore the narrow topic of how important our sensory perception of the world ultimately is to love and happiness.
Making this small story that takes place within the context of a much bigger story is screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson's biggest challenge in her otherwise fascinating concept film. At regular intervals throughout this rather intimate character-centered story, we see lots of random footage of people all over the world succumbing to this syndrome set to voice-over narration explaining what's going on. It's kind of a buzz-kill in how jarring of a tonal change it creates, even if it does help us sort out the bizarre effects of the epidemic.
Director David Mackenzie struggles with what to do in these situations as a result. He's terrific at lapping up the chemistry between stars Ewan McGregor and Eva Green and creating some stirring moments in what's an otherwise quiet film, but the odd nature of the epidemic is almost too much to overcome.
The loss of each sense is preceded by some kind of an emotional episode, which is unusually and maybe even refreshingly poetic considering other sci-fi films centered on epidemics, but it takes awhile to get comfortable with the idea. For example, the second sense that people lose is taste, but prior to losing it, they experience several minutes of intense, ravenous hunger. We witness this through a montage showing all kinds of people (including our main characters) devouring anything they can get their hands on. Considering the soft, string- dominated tone of almost the entire film, this is like a scene out of a ridiculous B horror movie.
As you might be able to deduce, "Perfect Sense" is at its best when it focuses on McGregor and Green. An epidemiologist and a chef who discover each other in the early days of the epidemic, their lives are personally and professionally impacted by the loss of the senses (and in Green's character Susan's case, that there appears to be no way of understanding or stopping it). Susan gives in to McGregor's Michael after persistent advances, probably out of the communal sense of hopelessness this situation has instilled in everyone. Their relationship consists of mostly physical benefits, but they quickly forge an emotional attachment to one another.
Particularly intriguing is how Aakeson imagines society would react and adjust to the loss of each sense. The one interesting side plot of the entire film involves the restaurant Michael works for. His boss is ready to give up and shut the restaurant down with people having lost smell and taste, but he realizes the role food plays in creating a sense of comfort and normalcy, and the chefs begin to design dishes centered on textures. Because the loss of each sense is gradual, the film can take the time to imagine how society would compensate for each one.
By the time the third sense starts to go, you understand the pattern and "Perfect Sense" begins to make a lot more ... sense. At the same time, Susan and Michael's relationship has grown in equal measure, and we want to spend more time with them. The arc of their relationship feels abbreviated and considering the complexity displayed in McGregor and Green's chemistry, their highs and lows should probably be a bit more developed and complete.
Even if an entire movie wasn't necessarily needed to make the point, "Perfect Sense" still deserves credit for raising the question of how essential our sense are in leading happy lives and feeling love. Love is the intangible sense, the one that exists in some instinctive place we often refer to as the soul. Is that intuitive feeling enough for love? As with those who are already missing a sense, the loss of one makes the others stronger, but when there's nothing left? It's a great discussion topic and one you can't blame Aakeson for wanting to discover.
So even though the sci-fi context ends up being distracting and is a bit mishandled in certain instances when it comes to preserving the film's tone, there's enough to merit the attempt at this genre-hybrid exercise, if for nothing else than a couple moving romantic performances and some food ... for thought.
~Steven C
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Making this small story that takes place within the context of a much bigger story is screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson's biggest challenge in her otherwise fascinating concept film. At regular intervals throughout this rather intimate character-centered story, we see lots of random footage of people all over the world succumbing to this syndrome set to voice-over narration explaining what's going on. It's kind of a buzz-kill in how jarring of a tonal change it creates, even if it does help us sort out the bizarre effects of the epidemic.
Director David Mackenzie struggles with what to do in these situations as a result. He's terrific at lapping up the chemistry between stars Ewan McGregor and Eva Green and creating some stirring moments in what's an otherwise quiet film, but the odd nature of the epidemic is almost too much to overcome.
The loss of each sense is preceded by some kind of an emotional episode, which is unusually and maybe even refreshingly poetic considering other sci-fi films centered on epidemics, but it takes awhile to get comfortable with the idea. For example, the second sense that people lose is taste, but prior to losing it, they experience several minutes of intense, ravenous hunger. We witness this through a montage showing all kinds of people (including our main characters) devouring anything they can get their hands on. Considering the soft, string- dominated tone of almost the entire film, this is like a scene out of a ridiculous B horror movie.
As you might be able to deduce, "Perfect Sense" is at its best when it focuses on McGregor and Green. An epidemiologist and a chef who discover each other in the early days of the epidemic, their lives are personally and professionally impacted by the loss of the senses (and in Green's character Susan's case, that there appears to be no way of understanding or stopping it). Susan gives in to McGregor's Michael after persistent advances, probably out of the communal sense of hopelessness this situation has instilled in everyone. Their relationship consists of mostly physical benefits, but they quickly forge an emotional attachment to one another.
Particularly intriguing is how Aakeson imagines society would react and adjust to the loss of each sense. The one interesting side plot of the entire film involves the restaurant Michael works for. His boss is ready to give up and shut the restaurant down with people having lost smell and taste, but he realizes the role food plays in creating a sense of comfort and normalcy, and the chefs begin to design dishes centered on textures. Because the loss of each sense is gradual, the film can take the time to imagine how society would compensate for each one.
By the time the third sense starts to go, you understand the pattern and "Perfect Sense" begins to make a lot more ... sense. At the same time, Susan and Michael's relationship has grown in equal measure, and we want to spend more time with them. The arc of their relationship feels abbreviated and considering the complexity displayed in McGregor and Green's chemistry, their highs and lows should probably be a bit more developed and complete.
Even if an entire movie wasn't necessarily needed to make the point, "Perfect Sense" still deserves credit for raising the question of how essential our sense are in leading happy lives and feeling love. Love is the intangible sense, the one that exists in some instinctive place we often refer to as the soul. Is that intuitive feeling enough for love? As with those who are already missing a sense, the loss of one makes the others stronger, but when there's nothing left? It's a great discussion topic and one you can't blame Aakeson for wanting to discover.
So even though the sci-fi context ends up being distracting and is a bit mishandled in certain instances when it comes to preserving the film's tone, there's enough to merit the attempt at this genre-hybrid exercise, if for nothing else than a couple moving romantic performances and some food ... for thought.
~Steven C
Thanks for reading! Visit moviemusereviews.com for more