Day 67/71 - Uncertainty (2009)

Uncertainty (directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel) begins with Kate (Lynn Collins) and Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) on Brooklyn Bridge debating which way they should go. After flipping a coin, they run opposite ways and two separate stories begin and are intertwined: Yellow and Green.

In Yellow, the couple takes a cab and finds a cellphone. Rather than giving it to the cab driver, the Bobby decides to call numbers on the phone trying to find the owner. After agreeing to give the phone to the man he assumes owns the phone, the couple watch him being gunned down. Quickly the story becomes a chase, with “them” tracking the couple as they try to escape in New York. When they decide to sell the phone back to the person claiming to be the real owner, the stakes get even deadlier.

In Green, filled with green elements, the couple are going to a 4^th of July celebration at her parents’ house. As they drive there in their green van, they find a dog which they stop and rescue. While we learn about their relationship and her family, they create and post signs for the lost dog’s owner. Kate is newly pregnant and the two discuss what direction their relationship must take, all the time taking care of their new responsibility, the dog. There are secrets Kate keeps that I won’t reveal, but they certainly complicate the couple’s dilemma.

The two stories mirror each other and sometimes make reference to each other. An obvious example in Yellow occurs when they emerge from a movie which has a sign announcing “Stray Dog,” “Rashomon” and “High and Low.” Later, they run through a crowd of students on a field trip who all wear green tee--shirts.

Both works feel highly improvised, and according to imdb, the original script contained no dialog. It was all created by the actors as they rehearsed with the director. Lynn Collins and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are both personable actors who respond well to each other and who we end up caring about. The pacing on the two stories differs. Green is very slow and introspective and yellow matches the chase.

Uncertainty (2009) ****