Looper

Slightly apposite: I am thankful that Rian 'Brick' Johnson's third film is a good'un, as I had worried after hearing bad things about his second, The Brothers Bloom. Maybe I should even go watch the copy I have in the sitting room, one of these days?

ANYWAY. Things that time-travel is used for in Looper, Rian Johnson's third film, starring Joshua Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt:

• Underplayed irony.
  
• Jokes.
  
• Hair-raising body horror.
  
• Establishing undeniable but asymmetric connections between "different" characters.
  
• Providing Jeff Daniels with enough gravitas to basically do a decent impression of Jeff Bridges.
  
• An excuse for putting Joshua Gordon-Levitt in makeup that makes him look like a young Bruce Willis.
  

Things that time-travel is not used for: providing a clear, consistent and linear series of events that definitely happen. In fact, not one but two characters explain that this is not a useful or worthwhile way to spend your time. I wrote something a long time ago about the distinctions between sci-fi films (resolution makes logical sense) and fantasy films (resolution makes emotional sense) - I am wondering if some of the complaining and overthinking I've seen about Looper would be if it was a magical portal that chucked you into the past, rather than a science fiction device.

Anyway - it is very good, it deals in emotion rather than logic, but it earns the emotions and you will like it (I think).