Dir. Sophie Barthes; USA/France; 2009; Comedy/Drama; Paul Giamatti, Dina Corzun; 101 mins
With Giamatti and Strathairn on board this is a shoo-in. Both actors are rarely anything less than engrossing on screen and here we get two Giamattis for the price of one.
The reviews suggest that a somewhat futuristic concept is brought into present day reality as otherwise bizarre situations and dialogues are played out with dead pan performances to comedic affect. Sounds like excellent casting to me.
I like to catch a director’s (or actor’s) beginnings, particularly in the festival environment, so I’m interested to see how Barthes handles this odd first feature length effort. Here she directs her own written material and comparisons have unsurprisingly been drawn with the story’s Kaufman-esque theme. Anyone who caught my reaction to Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK at last year’s festival will know that that bumps this film up another notch on our must-see list.
Wise words:
