Critic's Grade: D

You have to wonder what happens to writers when they go from one very good screenplay to one the defies all sense of reasonable entertainment or interest. Charlie Kaufman struck gold with his script for "Being John Malkovich," a movie that despite its quirkiness and absurdist nature, managed to possess a solid story beneath it all. And now we have "Human Nature," which not only ranks as one of the year's most teeth-grating films, but also as a startling disappointment on the part of Kaufman, who fails to give us any reason to be interested in the material.

If "Malkovich" was a pro-self message, then "Human Nature" is one of conformity and ponderance. Through his characters, Kaufman raises a number of issues involving things like civilized behavior, instincts, and interaction between humans and animals. There's Patricia Arquette, playing a woman who, since puberty cursed her with an hormonal imbalance, suffers from complete body hair growth; Tim Robbins plays a mild-mannered scientist whose strict upbringing in the uppercrust behaviors of the social elite has led him to experiment with mice and table manners; and Rhys Ifans, the film's weirdest character, portrays a man brought up by his father to behave and believe himself to be a monkey.

One reason for which Kaufman loses points here is that unlike his previous material, he chooses to shove his messages down our throats until we're practically choked of any and all interest in them. He all but beats us over the head with the Arquette character, who undergoes extensive electrolysis in order to become attractive to the close-minded Robbins, who has abducted Ifans for studies and research. Later, she accepts her hairy form as a blessing when she becomes attracted to Ifans, who then decides that he must act as his own species should. Acceptance of personal traits has never been so weirdly unaffecting.

Then there's the over-the-top handling of the material by director Michel Gondry, who puts otherwise excellent actors through situations that I cannot define as anything more than simply atrocious. Arquette with full body hair, Ifans donning a scruffy appearance and hopping around naked through the woods (Arquette is quick to follow suit as well), and Robbins acting like a lilly-livered, close-minded twit doesn't exactly give us a reason to laugh or feel for anyone or anything. By film's end, I didn't give a damn about these characters or their personal traumas; I was just ready to head for the bathroom and lose my lunch over the sight of Ifans getting himself off on a tree limb while looking at Arquette in all her natural "beauty."

The movie just tries too hard. It observes filth and asks us to do the same. It wades into the swamp and asks us to follow, yet leaves us no boots. There are images in "Human Nature" that will literally make you cringe. The story isn't a complete failure in terms of getting its message across, but the manner in which it chooses to convey that message is simply too absurd and ridiculous for comfort. Human nature provides that we avoid unpleasant experiences; I'll be sure to keep this in mind if ever anyone suggests watching this film.

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