Bliss

A science-fiction romance doubling as an offbeat corporate satire, Bliss is a mind-bending twist on a familiar redemption story that doesn’t capitalize on an intriguing concept.

It provides some loopy, subversive fun for a while. Yet as a more contemplative rumination on memory, regret, life’s consequences, and starting over, the film is more muddled than profound.

“This is the beginning of your new life,” is the tone-deaf message that Greg (Owen Wilson) hears from his patronizing boss (Steve Zissis) moments after being fired from his corporate job, apparently for lack of productivity and general disinterest.

His resulting violent outburst triggers a downward spiral for Greg, who already was suffering from a midlife crisis that includes estrangement from his family — although his daughter (Nesta Cooper) still wants him to come to her wedding.

At a bar, he meets Isabel (Salma Hayek), an eccentric woman with mysterious telekinetic powers who’s mysteriously drawn to Greg. She unlocks his powers, too.

Isabel is homeless and spouts mumbo-jumbo about memory echoes and thought transcriptions, insisting that the world around both of them is actually a computer simulation, and that true happiness for both of them lies in an alternate dimension. He initially dismisses her as a wacko, for good reason.

Eventually, as details are revealed about Greg’s personal troubles and the oddities surrounding him, he becomes convinced that Isabel might not be so crazy, after all.

Shifting gears after a big reveal halfway through, the convoluted screenplay by director Mike Cahill (Another Earth) nevertheless struggles to balance its more grounded character-driven elements with its abstract mind-bending components.

In his first starring role in more than three years, Wilson’s understated portrayal provides the audience with a window into this bizarre world. Channeling his best Walter Mitty, he gets inside the head of a man who’s more complex than he first appears. Meanwhile, Hayek brings a heavy dose of her feisty charisma.

However, the scientific explanation for its parallel worlds is elaborate but unconvincing, and the film lacks sufficient character depth to match its moments of quirky charm.

By the time Bliss gives us enough clues to figure out what’s real and what’s simulated, you might not care enough to put them together.

Rated R, 103 minutes.