Barney’s aversions to love
FILM REVIEW: BARNEY’S VERSION
PAUL Giamatti has the endearing misanthrope market cornered. His bulging jowls, balding head and soft around the middle torso impart a sort of weather-beaten look, like he has been up against it his whole life.
Jewish author Mordecai Richler wrote Barney’s Version in 1997, six years before Giamatti’s breakout performance as an endearing misanthrope in American Splendour and five years before his turn as an endearing misanthrope in indie smash Sideways. Despite this, it seems as though the novel’s protagonist, Barney Panofsky, was written for him. So it stands to reason that he hits it out of the park.
Giamatti delivers a powerhouse performance as a chain-smoking, single-malt swilling Jewish TV producer in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. As his memory fails him, he recalls the story of his relationship with the love of his life Miriam, played with great nuance and empathy by the brilliant Rosamund Pike.
Dustin Hoffman fairly steals the show as Barney’s dad Izzy, a rough-around-the-edges retired cop whose bonhomie knows no bounds. This is his best role since I Heart Huckabee in 2004, and a timely reminder of his genius.
Minnie Driver hams it up as Panofsky’s second wife, a Jewish princess from old money, but her over-baked turn is only one of several “Jewisms” that seem like they were gleaned from pop culture rather than experience. There are the gaudy simchas replete with lavish kosher buffets, nasal kvetching Yiddish catchphrases and gesticulating.
There’s the sentimental ending too. The film’s pithy edge is totally abandoned in the third act as Barney’s condition worsens, giving way to Notebook-style forlorn looks, and the obligatory meltdown in which a character is cradled on the floor and stroked as they wail uncontrollably. There are also one or two instances of clunky dialogue, which are disappointing given the otherwise high standard of the film’s writing.
Giamatti, as he so often does, imbues Barney with a vulnerability that makes you root for him despite his many and varied shortcomings. There is real chemistry between Pike and Giamatti, and their exemplary performances are the beating heart of this film, which is entertaining and largely satisfying.
Barney’s Version is currently screening.
PHOTO: Dustin Hoffman (right) and Paul Giamatti in a scene from Barney’s Version.
Reviewed by Adam Kamien
Rating: ****
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