Uncertainty

Uncertainty opens with the Brooklyn Bridge and our protagonists must choose whether to travel west to Manhattan or east to Brooklyn. The decision is ultimately made by a flip of a coin, propelling us into a sudden and powerful dash towards both destinations. The remainder of the film bounces back and forth between Manhattan and Brooklyn as both protagonists play out what would have happened given either course of action.
In Manhattan we are treated to a telling family drama about a semi-well-to-do immigrant family complete with a domineering mother, an ailing uncle, and an ambitious younger sister anxious to follow in her sister’s (protagonist Kate, played by Lynn Collins) footsteps. In this situation Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), our other hero, plays the bumbling and unloved fiancé. Across the water we are plunged into intrigue as Bobby and Kate are chased through Brooklyn by drug dealers and hit men in hopes of a five hundred thousand dollar reward.
Each vein is divided not only spatially and thematically, but optically, taking on the colors green and yellow respectively to visually differentiate the two stories. These visual cues become important as the film progresses because, as one would expect in a film entitled Uncertainty, the stories consist largely of the main characters sitting around and not really deciding anything at all. The result is a lot like a Friday night that starts with big plans and ends with an argument over which Bar to go to.
The film’s opening provides a lot of momentum and promise as the initial indecision and novel structure provide a degree of suspense and tension that is able to carry the viewer through the initial lack of substance. The suspense is compounded as the either pair finds a lost object and is forced to decide what do with it. But as the film pushes through the to the second act, uncertainty only increases, and the lack of agency and the constant wavering begin to grind on the viewer. This is not to say there is no action, there is plenty of it, but the lack of cognizant choice on the part of the character’s results in major plot turns that are empty of value. By the third act, when decisions are finally made and the initial point becomes apparent, the film has already lost its audience and the resolution feels contrived and pointless.
This is upsetting, because the characters involved, especially those in the Brooklyn thread, are deep and rich individuals, whose stories, motivations and relationships are well conceived and compelling. The film’s images are beautiful as well. Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel sturdy and unified images that contain all the necessary details and are coded with thematic colors, but don’t become gimmicky. The failure of the film comes purely from a flawed concept: its just not interesting watching people not make decisions.

2/5