Movie Club - Barney's Version [SPOILERS]

[Billy Kennedy]

Yo, just creating a new topic to discuss Barney's Version, because I think we should keep the old one clean for picking new movies each week.

Anyway, just saw it really enjoyed it. Thought it was well told, touching, character based, and a bit mysterious. So it touched most of the bases I look for in a movie. Paul Giamatti was magnificent in portraying the gradually declining character, and played him ambiguously enough the whole way through that I was constantly kept guessing, not just about the central 'mystery', but simply where they were going to take the character. Honestly don't think I've seen Minnie Driver in a movie in years, but she was good too, and still has a bit of a MILF look about her.

So, any discussion, theories, general chatter?

[liam]

Twas good alright. A nice few dark comedy bits but a lot of it was cripplingly depressing. Finding his father dead in the whorehouse was a highlight. "You look like a king!" lol.

I liked the bit of a twist at the end with his friends "Skydiving" death. Didnt see that coming. And it wasnt too big of a twist that would ruin it like a M Knight Shamlamalamlamlamlam yoke. Interesting story. I might pick up the book if I come across it. Was it based on a true story?

Maybe the next movie we pick should be a bit more lighthearted tho. Im on a pure downer after watching a man slowly lose his mind from alzheimers.

[kirbi]

Steve and I just finished watching it and I really enjoyed it - bit of a slow burner, but really well done.

I ended up with the impression that 'the point' was to display a redeemable fuck up - hence the begining being included, which might not have seemed as relevant to the main story. And - success!

The performances were all solid (where they weren't exceptionally good), I enjoyed the cinematography, and the story was interesting - particularly the murder mystery. I'm glad that they did resolve that at the end - it would've bothered me a little if they hadn't.

Giamati was excellent, as usual. I would've pretty easy to not have much sympathy for Barney for much of the film with a lesser actor.

Lefevre and Driver were pretty good as the first wives, and Pike was *very* good as Miriam - she pulled off seeming calm and unflappable without coldness.

I love Dustin Hoffman forever. He's awesome pretty much all the time. (Atica! Atica!)

Speedman was really good as Boogie, too. He really seemed like the kind of guy who could be your best and worst friend simultaneously. (On a side note - as far as I'm aware, this guy has just been in the Underworld movies and Felicity. Where did this come from!?)

I do think that something more lighthearted could be in order for next time though - or just a genre flick.

[Billy Kennedy]

I really enjoyed Hoffman. I never get over how easily he completely changes his entire persons, down to the way he moves for a character, pure character acting.

I also like the way they kind of solved the mystery at the end but didn't spell it out fully, they just said the wounds were 'consistent' with skydiving, so we don't know whether he got collected by one of the water dropping planes and jumped out, or was swimming and got hit by one of the planes as it was landing or whatever. It wouldn't really make sense that he went of swimming, got out and then randomly decided to go skydiving in the same lake at a later date. I don't think it really matters but it was a nice way to leave it somewhat open.

One of the nice touches which I noticed was the way the lake house changed over time, becoming darker and more dilapidated as time went by (some might say in tandem with the state of Barney's mind, though that might be a little bit too 'literary critique' ;D). The whole relationship with the daughter was a nice counterpoint to his relationships with just about ever other woman in the film too, and kind of a redeeming factor for him.

I'd have no bother looking at something lighter next though. Post suggestions in the other thread! We'd want to pick by tomorrow though, to give everyone near enough a week to watch whatever we pick.

[liam]

Yeah, the friends death was left fairly open, and I mean, its always still possible that Barney disposed of the body purposfully in one of those planes. They were both very drunk and rolled down a fair verticle distance in their fight so that could account for the friend dying in spite of not getting shot. I like how it kinda showed his face in a moment of clarity at the end when it dawned on him that it might have not been his fault at all. Or perhaps it was him cooking up a better explanation to get away with it or something.

Hoffman was great. He added some comic relief to the whole thing without being a stereotypical Comic Relief Character. Checking out the young one putting flowers on a loved one's grave for example or even better the scene where he was introduced to the story with that pure Curb Your Enthusiasm dinner party. Gold.

[NoExclamationMarks]

Must say I liked the movie, although it took me a while to get into. The acting was solid all round, although Giomatti, Hoffman and the third wife were particularly good. I also marked for the appearances of Donny from Frazier and Lily from Life on a Stick. Brief as they were.

The story was quite touching, and as liam said pretty damn depressing towards the end. It really did suck you in though, which was probably the best thing about it.

Agreed with the others on the murder explanation at the end. I think they wrapped that up nicely. They gave some closure, but still left it open to interpretation.

If I could find fault with it at all, it was that the entire thing was a little disjointed. The story didn't seem to really take off until he met his third wife - making the story with the first wife seem almost pointless. The murder mystery seemed like it was going to be the major point of the film near the start, but it took up very little time and was ignored for the bulk of the movie. Giomatti going crazy wasn't really emphasised a lot either until the very end. With all of that, it's hard to tell what the movie is about or what it's message is.

The only consistent thing is Giomatti's character, which is why it wouldn't surprise me if it was based off a true story. Someone's memoirs or something along those lines. I'm probably wrong though.

[Billy Kennedy]

Oh, one more thing I noticed, I shows a really quick shot of the friends face just before it cuts to them filming the outside of an airplane for Barneys soap opera. Really nice touch!

[Billy Kennedy]

@steve I think one of the main points was that it was Barneys 'Version' of what happened, so if you can imagine a guy with Alzeimers trying to tell the story, it's going to be quite disjointed, very self focused and quite possible that he leaves out huge swathes or just gets parts totally wrong. At least that's kind of what I got from it.

[liam]

I didnt cop that. That kinda thing is cool. Especially when its subtle enough that you might not notice til a second view.