{"id":9026,"date":"2018-08-21T17:45:40","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T21:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=9026"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:06:59","slug":"12-monkeys-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=9026","title":{"rendered":"12 Monkeys-1995"},"content":{"rendered":"

12 Monkeys-1995<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Terry Gilliam<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #804<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed August 21, 2018<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bruce Willis stars in a 1995 science-fiction thriller named 12 Monkeys that is sure to confuse even the keenest of viewers. Containing a plot that is impossible to follow (at least with only one watch), the film is quite novel and filled with edge nonetheless.<\/p>\n

With this film, Willis came into his own and proved to some naysayers that he is more versatile than a one-note action hero. He would develop even more as the years passed- think Sixth Sense (1999).<\/p>\n

If I may begin to summarize the complex plot, 12 Monkeys is a film about time-travel (confusing enough), that traverses from the year 2035 to the year 1990, to the year 1996, with a bevy of dreams or memories thrown in, but I am still not crystal clear on that.<\/p>\n

The time involved threw me for a loop and I was not able to comprehend where things shifted to……or was part of it a memory possessed by Willis’s character as a little boy?<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, in 2035 James Cole (Willis) is a prisoner who is selected by “the powers that be” to go back in time to find a cure for a deadly virus that has wiped out a large part of the world. He is transported to the year 1990 instead of 1996 and lands in a psychiatric hospital, where he meets fanatical Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt).<\/p>\n

Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) appears in both the 1990 and 1996 stories as a respected psychiatrist and author. Both she and Goines become central to the main plot and the story twists and turns as events move along.<\/p>\n

The intention to make Willis and Stowe a romantic couple did not seem to quite work at first, but their chemistry grew on me. The duo never received a “happily ever after” finale as they deserved nor was their troubled romance ever fully realized to say nothing of consummated.<\/p>\n

The flirtation and bond they share felt more like a tease than anything else, or rather, having two Hollywood heavyweights forge some sort of romance. Regardless, “romance” did not seem the point of this film.<\/p>\n

Brad Pitt was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar award for the film. While he provides a quirky, showy style role (actually multiple roles or personalities), complete with tics resembling a Tourette syndrome patient, the role is not one of his best.<\/p>\n

At this time (1995), Pitt was a rising star and the recognition helped him tremendously. But he seems slightly overact and makes the character too over-the-top.<\/p>\n

I much prefer his more subdued work in Seven (released the same year), or future roles in Babel (2006) and Moneyball (2011).<\/p>\n

Appealing in parts are the frequent exterior shots of the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore, where the film is set. Treats include the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Pennsylvania Convention Center, and Eastern State Penitentiary filming locations as well as numerous highway and bridge shots, which add tons of authenticity.<\/p>\n

A major score for the film, and Alfred Hitchcock fans everywhere, is the incorporation of classic film clips, specifically the mysterious Vertigo (1958) into the story.<\/p>\n

As Kathryn and James camp out in a rustic movie theater and disguise themselves as different people, they watch a marathon of Hitchcock films (as evidenced by the many titles on the marquee).<\/p>\n

Clever is that the characters of James and Kathryn begin to mirror the actions of Vertigo characters Scottie and Judy.<\/p>\n

Blondes anyone?<\/p>\n

12 Monkeys (1995) does sort of come together after the film as the dreams\/memories are laid out pretty clearly. As we have witnessed these sequences throughout, it leads to a semi-satisfying conclusion.<\/p>\n

A bit of a beautiful mess, the film has clever tidbits and is well-acted, and the baring of both Willis’s and Pitt’s butts might get some additional viewers.<\/p>\n

I think I need to watch the film again to perhaps understand and connect all of the dots better.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Supporting Actor-Brad Pitt, Best Costume Design<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12 Monkeys-1995 Director Terry Gilliam Starring Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt Scott’s Review #804 Reviewed August 21, 2018 Grade: B+ Bruce Willis stars in a 1995 science-fiction thriller named 12 Monkeys that is sure to confuse even the keenest of viewers. Containing a plot that is impossible to follow (at least with only one … Continue reading 12 Monkeys-1995<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,10206,1529,1784,5001,756,3261,1032,6119,103],"tags":[279,10208,1533,1789,5005,757,3265,1042,6120,105],"class_list":["post-9026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1995-movie-reviews","category-annie-golden","category-brad-pitt","category-bruce-willis","category-christopher-meloni","category-christopher-plummer","category-lisa-gay-hamilton","category-madeleine-stowe","category-matt-ross","category-scifi","tag-1995-movie-reviews","tag-annie-golden","tag-brad-pitt","tag-bruce-willis","tag-christopher-meloni","tag-christopher-plummer","tag-lisa-gay-hamilton","tag-madeleine-stowe","tag-matt-ross","tag-sci-fi-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9026"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19421,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9026\/revisions\/19421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}