Uncertainty

Uncertainty is an Indie film I found on Netflix and watched when I should have been reading Proust for the book club I instigated and now have to follow through with. (I want to do it; really, I do ...)

There are two versions of this story told simultaneously, both taking place on July 4th. The green events unfold in Brooklyn and the yellow ones in Manhattan. Spoilers follow: Kate and Bobby are a new couple, ten months into their relationship, when they discover she's pregnant. A toss of the coin at the beginning of the film turns them in two different directions, the subtle question being asked: do they keep the baby?

There's a larger question, though. What will happen to them in the course of their lives? In the Manhattan version, they find a treo and scheme to make $500,000 out of its return to some shady characters. They are concerned about their careers and spend the day on the run, just getting by, sleeping on cardboard. In Brooklyn, they find a dog and are surrounded by extended family relationships and love. They spend the night together in comfort.

The big decision is never pronounced directly, just as the initial question is never posed overtly. (That sentence is sooo bad, I'm gonna keep it.) The conclusion, however, isn't vague and that left me satisfied. Both stories end in the same place the movie begins, on the bridge, with a duplicated final statement. "What do we do next?" one asks. "I guess we just keep going." I interpret this to mean they stay together with the yellow couple deciding to pursue more personal goals and and the green couple opting for domesticity and family. While Eric gives this movie a thumbs down, calling it girlie, I give it a thumbs up for not beating me over the head with its message.