This is an unusual movie that invites a lot of questions. The summary line represents how I see it. A movie about a sole survivor after an apocalypse is not that unique. Easily coming to mind is Will Smith's "I am a legend" (technically, there are other survivors in that movie but they have all turned into zombies). In "I think we're alone now", Del (Peter Dinklage) appears initially to be the sole survivor. It would appear that there was some kind of plague that affected perhaps "99.99%" of the population.
The movie starts with 20 minutes without any dialogue, but a lot of action, not fights or such things, but in a very literal sense. Del is busy going from door to door with his "cleanup" operation, again in a literal sense. He wraps up dead bodies, at various stages of decay (very little graphic details, thank heavens), and buries them in common graves he dug. On a philosophic plane, this operation is his one-man campaign against "entropy". However, his motives are not entirely altruistic. He salvages anything useful, amongst which batteries are top-of-the-list. On a town plan spread open on his kitchen table, he marks off each house with a cross after he has attended to it.
When he is not engaging in this noble undertaking, Del fishes, in a breathtakingly beautiful lake. As canned food (those not past the expiry date) likely serves as his main source of nourishment, these freshly-caught fish provide his gourmet dinner which he takes in a spacious dining room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking the idyllic lake. A glass of wine too. Incidentally, he eats the fish with chopsticks. Not such a bad life, it would seem.
Lonely? An illuminating clue can be found in a later dialogue: "I was lonely when this town had a population of 1600". Then you remember that this is a dwarf talking, which will in turn conjure up the image of another dwarf (portrayed by the same exquisite actor), in "Three Billboards out Ebbing Missouri", and you get the picture. Del is actually enjoying this post-apocalypse life!
His solitude is disturbed by discovery of a young woman with a mild concussion, in a car she apparently drove onto an obstacle at curbside. "Why are you still alive?", his first question to her, comes across almost like an accusation. Like it or not, there is at least one more survivor now, Grace (Elle Fanning). He tries to send her away while she, finding another human being alive, quite understandably wants to stay. After some negotiation, he finally allows her to stay to help in the cleanup operation, on a trial basis. A smile blossoms on the young woman's lovely face.
The interaction between the two of them, essentially the middle "act" of the movie, is the meat. Grace's youthful zest soon surfaces and her curiosity is insatiable. Unfazed by Del's taciturn responses, she carries on merrily "That's what people do, they ask questions", such as whether he is lonely, drawing out the abovementioned answer.
Gradually getting used to each other, they start some bantering. Rummaging through the shelves of canned food in the supermarket, talking about eating in general, Grace asks "what do you miss most"? "Quiet" (used as a noun, in reply). The interaction between Del and Grace in this mid-section of the movie is so intriguingly delightful that I wouldn't want to spoil anything with the details. One significant remark, however, should be mentioned. After they have exchanged a little bit of their respective background, Grace says, with uncharacteristic gravity, "You had no one. I had everyone." At what can be considered the conclusion of this middle "act", they are sitting in the car after dark. She starts by saying that there is something about where she comes from that she wants to tell him. Instead, however, she bends over and kisses him.
The reason I am not going to get into any details about the third and final "act" is not to avoid spoilers, but just that the plot twist is quite lame and almost meaningless. One critic goes to the extent to say that it looks like this last third comes from an entirely different movie, snapped on randomly. Another likens it to mixing prune juice with white wine! What I find most disappointing, however, is the waste of two top acting talents, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Paul Giamatti. But, looking on the bright side, they do bring something to the movie that lesser actors are not able to. Suffices to say that at the end of the "crisis", Del and Grace live happily ever after, an apt closure to the title "I think we're alone now".
While in general a very "quiet" movie, it comes with welcomed spasms of funky music, which is also used for the upbeat conclusion. The photography, with a penchant for play of lights, should fetch at least some award nominations.
The movie starts with 20 minutes without any dialogue, but a lot of action, not fights or such things, but in a very literal sense. Del is busy going from door to door with his "cleanup" operation, again in a literal sense. He wraps up dead bodies, at various stages of decay (very little graphic details, thank heavens), and buries them in common graves he dug. On a philosophic plane, this operation is his one-man campaign against "entropy". However, his motives are not entirely altruistic. He salvages anything useful, amongst which batteries are top-of-the-list. On a town plan spread open on his kitchen table, he marks off each house with a cross after he has attended to it.
When he is not engaging in this noble undertaking, Del fishes, in a breathtakingly beautiful lake. As canned food (those not past the expiry date) likely serves as his main source of nourishment, these freshly-caught fish provide his gourmet dinner which he takes in a spacious dining room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking the idyllic lake. A glass of wine too. Incidentally, he eats the fish with chopsticks. Not such a bad life, it would seem.
Lonely? An illuminating clue can be found in a later dialogue: "I was lonely when this town had a population of 1600". Then you remember that this is a dwarf talking, which will in turn conjure up the image of another dwarf (portrayed by the same exquisite actor), in "Three Billboards out Ebbing Missouri", and you get the picture. Del is actually enjoying this post-apocalypse life!
His solitude is disturbed by discovery of a young woman with a mild concussion, in a car she apparently drove onto an obstacle at curbside. "Why are you still alive?", his first question to her, comes across almost like an accusation. Like it or not, there is at least one more survivor now, Grace (Elle Fanning). He tries to send her away while she, finding another human being alive, quite understandably wants to stay. After some negotiation, he finally allows her to stay to help in the cleanup operation, on a trial basis. A smile blossoms on the young woman's lovely face.
The interaction between the two of them, essentially the middle "act" of the movie, is the meat. Grace's youthful zest soon surfaces and her curiosity is insatiable. Unfazed by Del's taciturn responses, she carries on merrily "That's what people do, they ask questions", such as whether he is lonely, drawing out the abovementioned answer.
Gradually getting used to each other, they start some bantering. Rummaging through the shelves of canned food in the supermarket, talking about eating in general, Grace asks "what do you miss most"? "Quiet" (used as a noun, in reply). The interaction between Del and Grace in this mid-section of the movie is so intriguingly delightful that I wouldn't want to spoil anything with the details. One significant remark, however, should be mentioned. After they have exchanged a little bit of their respective background, Grace says, with uncharacteristic gravity, "You had no one. I had everyone." At what can be considered the conclusion of this middle "act", they are sitting in the car after dark. She starts by saying that there is something about where she comes from that she wants to tell him. Instead, however, she bends over and kisses him.
The reason I am not going to get into any details about the third and final "act" is not to avoid spoilers, but just that the plot twist is quite lame and almost meaningless. One critic goes to the extent to say that it looks like this last third comes from an entirely different movie, snapped on randomly. Another likens it to mixing prune juice with white wine! What I find most disappointing, however, is the waste of two top acting talents, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Paul Giamatti. But, looking on the bright side, they do bring something to the movie that lesser actors are not able to. Suffices to say that at the end of the "crisis", Del and Grace live happily ever after, an apt closure to the title "I think we're alone now".
While in general a very "quiet" movie, it comes with welcomed spasms of funky music, which is also used for the upbeat conclusion. The photography, with a penchant for play of lights, should fetch at least some award nominations.