Barney's Version

I just saw this wonderful film which is an amazing adaption to Richler's story. The acting of the entire cast is extraordinary with Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver and the great Dustin Hoffman giving superlative performances. I sat in a small art-house cinema in a suburb of Tel-Aviv, Israel and the quite large audience (for a Saturday afternoon) enjoyed the film in total silence. You could have heard a pin drop (and that doesn't happen very often!).

I note that some reviewers were offended by the fact that some of the characters were unpleasant Jews. Well, that happens in life and as a Jew I wasn't offended one little bit. Like every other people we have nice and not nice people and I found the film to be very truthful, very funny and also very sad. An exceptional achievement!

"Barney's Version" is a strong production with fantastic acting, definitely worth checking out if you enjoy intense character dramas. It's about a guy named "Barney" (Paul Giamatti) who seems to be perpetually unlucky at love--not in a funny romcom way but in a tragic Shakespearean way--although his life is otherwise successful. Adding spice to the story is a subplot about an obsessed detective who is intent on pinning a 20-year-old unsolved murder wrap on Barney's head. Thus the story is part romance, part drama and part murder mystery, and it's done with enough intrigue that it never gets boring even though the film is 2hrs 14mins long.

My one gripe, as I mentioned in the title, is that our protagonist "Barney" is not really a likeable character. If you truly analyze his behavior, his choices and his actions & with regard to other people, you quickly realize that Barney has absolutely no empathy for others, and even his "love" for women in his life is purely need-based. This threw me for a loop, and it may confuse you as well, especially during the scenes where we're supposed to feel sorry for Barney.

Barney's unlikeability was deliberate, and Paul Giamatti does a great job of making the character engaging to us, even though if we were to meet someone like this in real life we would probably cross to the other side of the street, even if it were the LA freeway. I haven't read the book, and I'm not sure what the message is, other than an excercise in sympathizing with a person who is himself utterly unsympathetic to anyone else. But it's an interesting and powerful effect, especially when certain things happen toward the end that make this a very sentimental film.

I took off a few points because the writers used a few schlocky stereotypes to manipulate us into hating certain characters. For example, Barney's rival is a vegan who rambles about animals at dinner, and that's supposed to make us hate him (he doesn't have many other lines in the film). Or similarly, Barney's first wife has an annoying, nasal, Janice-from-Friends voice, and that's supposed to make us hate her and justify Barney's coldness toward her. I thought that was lazy writing. But other than that, most of the characters are interesting enough and well acted.

I would compare "Barney's Version" to other heavy dramas that feature unlikeable yet pitiable characters who make bad choices, such as "Streetcar Named Desire" (as well as its modern remake "Blue Jasmine") or "Leaving Las Vegas". There's a bit more humor in this film so it's not quite as heavy as the others I mentioned, but it's still a film that will affect you, even if it makes you feel a little bit dirty. Just be prepared to hate the main character and you'll have a good time.

Greetings again from the darkness. Ordinarily, a film with Rosamund Pike and Bruce Greenwood in key roles would be sufficient for me to stay home and watch The Nature Channel. However, Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman, as son and father, in a story based on Mordecai Richler's novel was motivation enough for me to buck up and give this one a shot. And what a pleasant surprise this film is.

Giamatti has mastered the role of cynical, self-absorbed, frumpy schlub and his Barney is every bit that. The story is told through extended flashbacks after we learn a detective has written a book accusing Barney of killing his best friend (Scott Speedman). No charges were brought and it's not until the end in an extremely creative reveal that we understand what really happened that day at the lake. Unfortunately, we aren't sure if Barney ever understands, but that's a whole different topic.

Barney's first marriage comes about because his girlfriend gets pregnant. This one ends in tragedy and betrayal and allows Barney to spend much of his life on the path of cynicism, alcoholism and cigar-chain-smoking. He is no pretty sight - from inside or out. He stumbles into his second marriage, this one to Minnie Driver. Ms. Driver is wonderful as the Jewish princess with a Master's Degree. How do we know? She continually reminds us of both facts. Ever known anyone that just constantly reminds you of how smart they are? How this marriage ends leads to the whole suspicion of murder and loss of best friend for Barney.

The real key to the story occurs at the wedding. Instead of worshiping his new bride, Barney watches hockey, does shots with his Dad (Dustin Hoffman) and experiences love at first sight ... not with his bride, but with a guest played by Rosamund Pike. This encounter puts Barney on a singular mission of winning over Ms. Pike, despite his marriage to Driver. Can't really give anything away here other than the story is very clever in how it handles the pursuit, failed marriage and subsequent true love story.

Only thing is, Barney never really "gets" what true love is. Pike has a wonderful scene where she explains that life and love are in "the seconds, the minutes, the routines". Barney nods but is clearly in over his head in so many ways.

What I really appreciate about this story is how there are so many relationships that seem to spring from reality ... people we know in situations we've been in. The title, of course, refers to Barney's version of reality. How he sees things. We could each replace his name with ours for a movie on our life. Do we see reality, or is reality how we interpret these seconds, minutes, routines? The answer seems pretty clear.

The film is directed by Richard J. Lewis (not the comedian) but is really a product of the amazing story and talented cast led by the extraordinary performance of Giamatti. Dustin Hoffman's scenes are all excellent, and his real life son Jake, plays his grandson in the film. Don't miss the quick scenes featuring standout directors Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Ted Kotcheff. It's also character actor extraordinare Maury Chaykin's final film. And I certainly can't omit mention of the fabulous soundtrack featuring T-Rex, JJ Cale, Donovan and others. Leonard Cohen's "I'm Your Man" plays over the closing credits so don't leave early!

I saw Barney's Version in Toronto. Loved it. Superb performances by all actors. Give yourself a night off, forget about your problems and find out about Barney's problems and his friends problems, and his wive's problems. It will make your life seem better. If you read the book, you most definitely will enjoy the movie. Poor Barney, nothing seems to turn out the way he wanted. He makes two really bad mistakes in his personal life and even though he is successful in business, he is really miserable and doesn't know how to fix it. An unexpected turn of events, and voilà, his worst problem is solved. But in an instant, he messes up again and is suspected of murder. The answer isn't revealed until the very end. I really felt sorry for Barney. The best line of the movie comes out of Minnie Driver on their Honeymoon. The best scene in the movie is a buff Scott Speedman stripping down to his underwear to go snorkeling. Dustin Hoffman is funny as heck. His son is also in the movie and is quite good. Rosamund Pike is enchanting and I see why Barney loved her so much. Barney is played by Paul Giammati and I will picture him as Barney forever. I wanted to give him a hug.

Mordecai Richler wrote a number of books focusing on Canada's Jewish community. Most notable was "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz", filmed starring Richard Dreyfuss. Years later he brought about "Barney's Version", which eventually got filmed starring Paul Giamatti and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup.

Much like Duddy Kravitz, the protagonist here makes his own rules. In fact, I was reading about Mordecai Richler and it turns out that what Richler based Barney's major action in this movie on what he personally did. Quite a rough story, but a good one. It's not a great movie, but I recommend it.