Quartet: Old People Are So Precious

In the film adaptation of Neil Simon’s California Suite, Dame Maggie Smith played a beloved English actor, rather embarrassed to be nominated for light weight comedic role.  She won her second Oscar for that role.  Somewhat ironically, Smith is back in Oscar contention for more or less the sort of part Simon’s character was up for.  The just winner of back-to-back Emmy Awards for Downton Abbey, Smith may not exactly be the sympathetic favorite for Quartet (trailer here), Dustin Hoffman’s feature directorial debut, which opens this Friday in New York.

Beecham House for retired musicians (mostly classical, aside from a few token big band vets) is anticipating the arrival of a new resident.  Jean Horton was the diva of her day.  She was also part of the celebrated “Rigoletto Quartet,” whose other three members are already residents of Beecham.  Their reunion is the cause of great trepidation for her.  Everyone gets along with Wilf Bond, the compulsive old flirt.  Likewise, Cissy Robson’s good nature never fails her, but her mind is slowly slipping.  Reggie Paget is another story.  Still sharp as a tack, he remembers only too well his ill-fated relationship with Horton.  Indeed, his bitterness still lingers.

Will the four former friends be able to put their differences behind them a come together as quartet to save Beecham House at the annual talent show gala?  Are the ponds in New Hampshire still golden?

Smith might be the film's biggest name, but the Weinsteins shoulld have put Quartet's Oscar chips on Tom Courtenay.  He brings such exquisite dignity and sophistication to Paget, viewers will long to see him in a film with more heft.  Smith is fine as Horton, but the character just seems so bland and pedestrian compared to Downton’s fan favorite, the Dowager Countess.  Rounding out the foursome, Billy Connolly is likably roguish as Bond and Pauline Collins is rather sweet and earnest as Robson.  There is nothing really wrong about Quartet, per se, except a lack of ambition, adding up to a bit of Marigold me too-ism.

No horses were injured in the filming of Quartet, so it has that going for it.  Do not expect any surprises though, in this story of third act pluckiness adequately but not inspiringly helmed by Hoffman.  Frankly, there is something slightly frustrating about a film whose most inspired moment is its closing credits, in this case showing vintage photos of its cast of accomplished opera singers, classical musicians, and classically trained thespians early in their careers.  Predictable and unabashedly sentimental, Quartet should satisfy those who like sugary, ascot-wearing films (but classical music connoisseurs will be better advised to check out A Late Quartet instead).  It opens this Friday (1/11) in New York at the Paris Theatre.

Adapting Richler: Barney’s Version

Though frequently controversial in his native Quebec, Mordecai Richler was arguably the most celebrated Anglophone Canadian novelist south of the great northern border. As it not typically the case, his final novel was also one of his most acclaimed. After a prolonged development period, director Richard J. Lewis and producer Robert Lantos’ adaptation of Barney’s Version (trailer here) finally opens for real in New York this Friday, after a brief Oscar qualifying run late last year.

Introspection might not be Barney Panofsky’s forte, but a new book making scandalous accusations about him has the late middle-aged man looking back over his life. In flashbacks, we see Panofsky live life’s highs and lows, as he recollects his youthful expatriate years in Italy, the Canadian television career he is openly contemptuous of, and a particularly fateful day when his friend Boogie, a determinedly unpublished novelist, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Yet, his three marriages provide the real key to understanding the irascible Panofsky.

Despite all the years and geography Version covers, it is a relatively simple story of a nebbish anti-hero torturing himself over the one that got away. Of course, like most of Richler’s oeuvre, it is deeply informed by the Canadian-Jewish experience, but Panofsky’s relationships have genuine universality (disastrous though they might be). He is embarrassed by his broken-down ex-cop father, but also fiercely loyal to the old man. He loves his children, yet constantly takes them for granted. Wives number one and two are mistakes to varying degrees, but number three, Myriam, is a different story.

Under ordinary circumstances, Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike would never look like a credible couple, but they establish sufficient rapport to sell their unlikely pairing. Indeed, they have one of the better movie courtships in recent years, best described as manic rather than cute.

Panofsky is easily Giamatti’s best work in a number of outings, while Pike projects a warm, smart presence as his beloved ex. Strangely though, the supporting players are all over the map. Dustin Hoffman is legitimately Oscar worthy as Panofsky père, wonderfully conveying his not-as-dumb-as-he-looks crudeness. In a clever bit of casting, Hoffman’s son Jake also appears as Panofsky’s son Michael, doing what he can with a relatively limited role. Scott Speedman is most notable amongst the ensemble, truly electric as the problematic Boogie. However, Bruce Greenwood and Minnie Driver basically resort to grating caricatures as Panofsky’s crass second wife and Myriam’s only slightly effeminate second husband, respectively.

Working from a first draft Richler was revising at the time of his death, screenwriter Michael Konyves infuses Version’s dialogue with wit and verve, without sounding like he is trying too hard. Though the 132 minute running time is a bit on the longish side, director Lewis (primarily known for television projects) still keeps it moving along nicely. Sad, funny, and most certainly memorable, if not exactly perfect, Version is a worthy Oscar showcase for Giamatti (and Dustin Hoffman if any Academy voters are listening out there). It (re)opens this Friday (1/14) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza and Union Square Theaters.