Monday, May 23, 2011

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)
Barney's Version (2010)

Genre: Drama / Comedy
Director: Richard J. Lewis
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Scott Speedman, Dustin Hoffman
Duration: 132 min.
Rating: 7.5/10

Summary:
The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky.



Barney's Version is a dark comedy directed by Richard J. Lewis based on a novel of the same name by Canadian Author Mordecai Richler, and premiered in competition at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival.  It won seven Genies at the 31st Genie Awards (2011), including Best Actor (Paul Giamatti), Best Supporting Actor (Dustin Hoffman), and Best Supporting Actress (Minnie Driver)

Richard J. Lewis does a decent job here, but as his television background shows, the direction and cinematography are bland and unremarkable.  Also the story that spans four decades rambles a bit too long and suffers from too many flashbacks and subplots.  The makeup was very good though, and should be commended for their work in convincingly aging the actors thirty odd years older.

However, it is the cast that carries this film.  Anchored by another exceptional performance from Paul Giamatti, the master of playing a character who is both charming and despicable, and he stays on the mark through every sarcastic line of his dialog.  He is supported wonderfully by legend Dustin Hoffman as his truculent ex-cop father and has some of the funniest scenes in the film, Minnie Driver as his beautiful but unbelievably annoying second wife, and Rosamund Pike in a touching role as his third wife and true love of his life.

One interesting note of trivia, there are several cameo appearances throughout the film by a number of Canadian filmmakers including David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, and Atom Egoyan, and also actor Paul Gross in a comedic nod to his former TV show Due South.
  
Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

Barney's Version (2010)

15 comments:

blahblahblahtoby said...

i would definitely recommend it, it's an enjoyable piece of indie cinema that wishes it was a kaufman but doesn't quite reach the heights. and on that note i realise i have yet to watch synecdoche new york.

blahblahblahtoby said...

i saw this at the local indie cinema because of paul giamatti. and the trailer looked good. it wasn't as funny as i'd hoped. and really it's very quite sad. the amount of old people crying as the credits rolled attested to my feeling that perhaps i was not the target demographic for the picture. i do love pig vomit in everything he does though. cold souls anyone?

Joe Hill said...

I only gave this a 6/10 (http://www.multiplexslut.com/2011/02/film-10-barneys-version.html), but in my mind it seems to improve in retrospect. It also moved me to read the source novel,  which I enjoyed very much.

Dustin Hoffman was indeed very good, the best thing I've seen him do for years.

The Angry LUrker said...

 I must admit I do like Paul Giamatti in nearly all he does so I may look this up.

Jack L said...

I can't say this one interests me much to be honest.
I've never been much of a Giamatti fan, but maybe that's because I haven't seen him in enough good films...

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah he pretty much owned every scene he was in.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah like a lot of great actors he doesn't seem to care about the quality of roles.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

 i think you might enjoy this one

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I watched it without knowing anything about it really, except that it won a bunch of awards here in Canada. 

I haven't seen Cold Souls yet, would you recommend it?

Gonzalo Garcia-Castro said...

 Paul Giamatti is excellent!

thenitefalls said...

I remember this guy  in Sideways! Looks like a great movie!

G said...

 looks a cool movie 

The Reel Foto said...

thank you, it's nice to see president adams in a different role.

Tim B. said...

Sounds like an awesome cast. This may very well be worth checking out.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

That was an awesome miniseries.

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