Barney's Version
Let me start off by saying that the trailer for the movie was better than the movie itself. And it's because of that trailer that I had been looking forward to seeing Barney's Version for months. I guess with that kind of build up and anticipation, it'd be hard to have it deliver, but then, I've had movies even surpass my inflated expectations before. This was not one of those movies.
I'm not saying that Barney's Version was a bad movie; it wasn't. It just wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. From the previews, it looked like it'd be a wholly unique story of one man's battle against himself and his surroundings as he tried to forge the life he wanted for himself. And it looked damn funny to boot. In reality, while it did tell the story of one man's battle against himself and his surroundings, it was neither particularly funny (it DID have its moments) nor tremendously unique (but again, it had its moments). In the end, it was a movie that had- to be fair- more hits than misses, but when I was expecting a grand slam, a solid and productive single to left just seems less satisfying.
So yeah. The story really does boil down to a man's struggle with himself and the course his life takes. At various times, Paul Giamatti's Barney is selfish, noble, giddy, disgruntled (a lot of disgruntled), in control, losing his mind, and so on and so forth. The range of emotions and scenarios plays out as Barney is confronted with a tell-all book about a crime he insists he didn't commit. The "Version" the title refers to is Barney's take- through yo-yoing between flashback and the present - on his life and how he both struggled to get to where he wanted to be and his battle with himself to stay there and all this is filtered through his relationships with his three wives and his best friend. Lots of things happen and through it all Barney always is faithful to being himself... for better or worse... even when he doesn't want to be. I'm trying not to lay it all out on the table for anyone who happens to read this. Watching how his life unravels is the best part of the movie. And in that there are some awesome moments and great surprises.
But there's also some elements that are frustratingly unoriginal and run of the mill. I think one of the most annoying aspects of the movie is how the failed relationships in Barney's life play out- particularly with his second wife. I don't think they needed to make Minnie Driver's character so shrill and annoying. But she was, so you can see where Barney would want to move on to wife number three. You can see that the two were never right for each other from the moment they first meet. The whole thing was clearly Barney's version of what the ideal life would and perhaps should be. And, it wasn't. I don't know. By the end of it, you can kind of find yourself rooting for Barney to break up with her... she's... just... so... I don't know... vapid and materialistic. But I think the stronger play would have been to humanize her more. Look, these two just don't belong together. And no matter how you dice it, Barney's gotten himself into trouble here by just going with some preconceived flow. Do you have to make her out to be such a bitch? Yes, I think the very end of their relationship was a nice twist, but I think it would have been a stronger story if Barney really had a choice. But, as you'll see in the movie. He doesn't. Not that you'll have a problem with it besides what you already would have depending on your tolerance for divorce. After all, she's horrible and if he stays with her, man it'll suck for him.
This is often something movies get wrong... at least in my mind. It's the ultimate in suck when you meet the person of your dreams just after you've cornered yourself with someone else. Of course, in conventional movie-making, the person who is cornered needs to break free and get with the love of his or her life. And you, the viewer, have to be left with no doubt that the person newly in love has made the right decision to break free. And so, the film maker proceeds to villain-ize the cornerer. And usually they err on the side of mega-bitch/asshole-dom rather than showing it for what it is- not quite right. I think the best I've seen come to reality in this plot line was Sleepless in Seattle. Of course Meg Ryan HAS to leave Bill Pullman's character. He's not the one, but he's not a bad guy... just kind of a wuss. Unfortunately, even there you kind of get it... I mean, you're supposed to get it, but is life really ever that cut and dry? Don't get me wrong, I get that you have to show why someone would be even open to falling in love with someone else. These things don't generally happen to people who are overly happy, but do they ALWAYS have to make it so damn clear. Can't they just set it up as these folks were just not right... or are no longer right for each other without turning the other person into a monster. At least in Barney's Version, you see that Barney is every bit to blame for where he is as his second wife, but in the end, the slathered the bitchiness on a touch too thick for my taste. Could have added some complexity there.
And that may be splitting hairs too. I just found it annoying that a film that at times seemed so willing to side step typical movie convention would fall into that sort of almost cliched plot point. It had its other moments too. I found the whole way they dealt with the crime he insists he didn't commit to be a little unsatisfying. It involves a bad situation no matter what happened, and you never get the feeling that Barney was particularly affected by it one way or the other. Yes, Barney could be the foremost self-centered prick, but you'd think he'd feel something more than he seemed to. Ok, I just wrote this huge bit about how I thought the ending made the entire movie confusing... or at the very least missed a golden opportunity to rise to the rank of one hell of a thought provoking flick... but I thought by including all that here, I'd have revealed too much. I don't like ruining the movies for the four or five of you who read this... so it's always a tough balancing act. I think what I did write stepped over that line too much. Suffice it to say that -after spending some time really thinking about it- I think the ending made the movie a little confusing... and also might have missed the opportunity to really step it up.
But enough of focusing on the negatives. At its best the movie was a fascinating look at a guy's life journey including all the battles he has with himself and those he lets in close to him. As someone who often struggles with himself and who he is, I can relate to some of this... though I don't think I could be as big of a prick as Barney can be if I tried... really hard. There were also a number of fantastic scenes and parts of the movie. I loved the way they portrayed Barney's relationship with his third wife. The idea of how they came together and built up a life was awesome to see. I also loved Barney's relationship with his Dad (played by a superb Dustin Hoffman). These are the types of things- the tone, the development of some of the relationships, the over all feel of most of the movie and the casting- that director Richard J. Lewis and company got right. Particularly the casting. Besides Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (he's really perfected the art of playing the discontented schlub... so much so that despite playing the role over and over again, it never seems to get old), Minnie Driver (despite the lack of complexity the writers allowed for her character), Scott Speedman (holy cow, didn't see that coming) and Rosamund Pike all deliver great performances. In fact, I'd go so far to say that Dustin Hoffman and maybe even Speedman are worthy of Oscar consideration. (Ok, maybe I'm going overboard with Speedman- he was good and I had never seen him in anything else that I can recall, but he just didn't seem like he'd be all that great an actor... so when he delivers? Perhaps I should tone it down... no... wait... I'll stick to it he deserved at least some passing consideration for Best Supporting Actor... if even only for a second...but certainly Dustin Hoffman was good enough to snag a nod... particularly over Mark Ruffalo).
I guess what I have to figure out is whether I'm penalizing Barney's Version for not being as incredibly awesome as I had thought it would be. I wasn't bored and being boring is- in my mind- the biggest sin a movie and its creators can commit. So it has that going for it. It also had a solid story told... pretty well. And some great acting. Hmm. But it just wasn't as satisfying as I would have hoped. Overall? Pretty good... I suppose.
Grade: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment