Human Nature
written by Charlie Kauffman
directed by Michel Gondry
starring Patricia Arquette, Tim Robbins, Rhys Ifans

      Human Nature evokes the spirit of writer Charlie Kauffman's screenplay for Being John Malkovich.   Unfortunately, it is a much weaker film, stemming from the direction of Michel Gondry and the feeling that Kauffman's script went through far less drafts than his debut.
      Human Nature tells the story of three people narrated from their confessions.  There is Lila Jute (Arquette), a woman who at puberty began growing hair all over her body causing her to excommunicate herself from humanity and live in the woods.  There is Nathan Bronfman (Robbins), a virginal scientist who's thesis involves teaching table manners to table mice and is himself removed from normal society by his compulsiveness toward such manners.  Finally there is Puff (Ifans), a man who was raised in the woods by a father who thought himself to be an ape.  Nathan ends up rearing Puff into society in a plot that is more Walk Like A Man than My Fair Lady bringing about tired scenes of Puff's reversions and a slapstick-inducing shock collar.
      The unusual concept shares a lot of surreal originality with Malkovich and even has some familiar moments on the theme of obsession.  But while, the previous film was bold in its foundation in reality, this film is more like a cartoon and lacks the ironic contradictions.  The photography is bright and plastic complimenting the hammed tone and performances.
      The three characters come together based on their animalistic sexual desires and the film never really gets any deeper.  Tim Robbins, evoking the performance of child actor Jonathan Lipnicki, hypocritically tells Puff, "When in doubt, don't ever do what you really want to do," while cheating on Lila with his assistant (Miranda Otto) who evokes a French Vicki Lewis.
      Human Nature is not a bad film but it is disappointing in the comparison to Being John Malkovich.  There are some very funny moments including two at the end:  As Puff walks down the street stripping off his clothing in preparation to return to the wild, followed by a parade of media, a family is seen in their apartment watching the spectacle on television instead of witnessing the event, viewable from their window.  A few moments later when he is reunited with his mother, he glances at his wristwatch, the only remaining item on his body, to prompt the statement that it is time to leave humanity. 
      Charlie Kauffman is still, in my opinion, the oddest and most fun of original new storytellers.  If his previous script had not been already filmed, I might love the film more, witnessing the rise of a new Savage Steve Holland.  The script is very similar to an early draft of Malkovich found on the web and seems to have the same potential for genius if only it had been given more concentration.

Patricia Arquette and Tim Robbins pose during their auditions for
 Jurassic Park IV