Mr. Nobody (2009)

Mr. Nobody is a choose-your-own-adventure book where the author refuses to choose. Jared Leto plays Nemo, the last man on Earth who can still die, both at 118 and as a younger man, and he remembers several lives that can’t all be true. Which parent did he leave with as a boy? Which girl did he marry? The movie says yes. Jaco Van Dormael has a gorgeous eye: each life gets its own colors, there’s a lonely lighthouse, and a whole surreal world of argyle. Sarah Polley is devastating in the saddest timeline. The trouble is the length. At 141 minutes, the branching lives start looping, and the movie explains its big ideas about chance like a professor who loves his own lecture. Leto’s old-age makeup is very much makeup. It made just $3.57 million worldwide on a reported $47M, and audiences adore it anyway. A 6.5 because the ideas are huge and the editing never learned to let go. $30.62 says you take a different route home tomorrow just to see what happens, and nothing happens.

What works: The gorgeous, color-coded look and Sarah Polley’s heartbreaking turn in the darkest branch of Nemo’s life.

What doesn’t: At 141 minutes the timelines repeat themselves, and the long lectures on time and chance slow everything down.

Who it’s for: People who lie awake replaying old choices and love movies that feel like puzzles.