Reuben, Reuben

Tom Conti stars in and was Oscar-nominated for taking the lead role in this blackly comedic drama with literally a dark twist in the tale right at the end. He plays the improbably-named Gowan McGland, a contemporary, feted Scottish poet who hits the lucrative American lecture trail as a distraction from his writer's block. Unfortunately he also hits the bottle, hard, and isn't above disgracing himself with rudely inappropriate behaviour at the various soirées laid on for him and is so down on his luck that he pilfers tips left on tables at restaurants for meals he didn't even pay for in the first place.

With more than one bored, middle-aged American housewife prepared to fall at his feet and do his bidding and an ex-wife looking to profit from her published kiss and tell revelations of their time together, McGland's life is something of a slow-motion train crash. Until that is, Kelly McGillis's much younger pretty student Geneva Spofforth (the character names in this movie are rather silly) takes pity on him, paying a train fare he's either financially or drunkenly incapable of meeting. They hook up, much to the disapproval of her mother, although her more wordly grandfather appears to be on his side.

McGland makes the awful mistake of crossing a wealthy dentist, Joel Fabiani's Dr Haxby, by, naturally, bedding his wife (Conti's real-life wife in fact, Kara Wilson) and compounds his felony by seeking free dental treatment from the very man he's cuckolded. Obviously he's never seen the well-known scene in "Marathon Man" as a painful revenge is extracted more than it's exacted.

It just remains to be seen if Conor and Geneva can make a go of things, especially after she delivers some cataclysmic news to him, but the accidental intervention of man's best friend at the end delivers the last words and coincidentally explains the movie's rather unusual title.

Reportedly based on the later life of the celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas who was similarly accursed, some might say blessed, with drunkenness and debauchery, Conti shines as the tousle-haired McGland who never seems to change his clothes. Cynical and superior, ever ready with an asinine put-down to those he considers beneath him, which is just about everyone he encounters, he's a difficult character to warm to, making me wonder if all poets talk in such a convoluted and pretentious manner as McGland does here. I didn't really buy into Geneva's attraction for him either and found the frankly weird ending as unexpected as it was bonkers.

An unsurprisingly wordy film, peopled with rather unattractive characters, it had the look and feel of what it very much appeared, a film adaptation of a play, Despite good acting by Conti and in particular Roberts Blossom in support as the knowing old grandfather, I found the movie rather detached and mannered and found I couldn't quite connect with it at any level.

This movie wasn't just written by Julius Epstein - as executive producer, and with another Epstein co-producing, he clearly midwifed it as well. So this would be a fairly unmediated labour of love from the man who penned Casablanca 40 years earlier, and damn if I don't like it better than Casablanca - if there's one thing I wanted to see it's a portrait of the lapsed poet as an old womanizing souse. Making him a Scot run amuck in New England is another great touch, gives the milieu a specificity you don't see every day. And that's not mentioning Tom Conti's very specific, and brilliant, performance - no wonder he never did anything comparable, he LIVES inside this thing. His hilarious portrayal of the sad-eyed loser Epstein has written him is the opposite of maudlin. As his doomed infatuation with young 'un Kelly McGillis approaches its inevitable demise, you wonder how on earth they are going to wrap things up - redemption would be corny, but despair would be hopeless and wrong. The answer he comes up with is a head-spinner, but it's also a perfect answer to this dilemma, and answers your lingering questions about the movie's name.

Reuben, Reuben! Tom Conti is Gowan McGland - a drunk, burnt-out has-been poet who's been slowly drinking himself to death. So why, as one of his acquaintances asks, does he get to "bed" 'so many women? What do they find so attractive? He's a charmer and a poet. Need we say more. As they said in "Dead Poets Society," why was poetry created - to woo women, of course. As the movie opens, we see him giving a reading of his work to a group of women. Some of them obviously piqued by his naughty little self and the way he scrutinizes himself and others under a microscope to find what really makes us tick and what turns us on, on all levels. He uses this theme of an awakening of self in his work, an arousal of all senses. The film centers on him trying to write and at the same time finding women to.... Enter Kelly McGillis who sees him on a train unable to pay his ticket, so she offers to pay and then bumps into him again later in the little Massachusetts town. Gowan tries to find semblance of order of his life, when he's told by an ex that she's writing a book about her marriage to him and he dictates some feelings into a tape recorder for her use. There's not any real action, but there's plenty of stimulation, great acting by Tom Conti, and extraordinarily insightful writing in this film. I was very impressed with screenwriter Epstein's script. The thoughts and ideas and feelings here were told in such a way as to be clear and simple, while they are representative of deep, multi-layered people and their mores. Epstein has the talent to be succinct. No other film has touched me or made such a profound impact on me, since I discovered "Ordinary People." The ending is a bit abrupt and almost unexpected, almost. But, when I see it again, I'm sure it will seem like it flows together. Everything was thoughtful and deliberate and those who love film like that will fall in love with Reuben, Reuben. But, wait, his character is Gowan McGland. So who or what is Reuben? What does it mean? What DOES it mean?

REUBEN, REUBEN ****1/2 Tom Conti's role--Gowan McGland, a philandering Scottish poet suffering from writer's block and a depression--is drinking away his fears and tears in wanting something more. He finds fulfillment, however, on one of his gallivanting book tours when he falls in love with a youthful, spirited college student named Geneva. The impressive turns from Conti, Kelly McGillis (debuting here as Gowan's girlfriend), and Roberts Blossom (as Geneva's grandfather) are a must-see, but it's Julius J. Epstein's screen writing that drives the picture. This film, which opened in New York with a bang but petered into obscurity extremely quickly, will intrigue, humor, and often surprise you. Rated R. 1983

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This is one of my favorite movies of all times. It's funny, moving, tragic, hilarious, just all in one. Tom Conti gives a memorable world-class performance and the stunning beauty of Kelly Mc Gillis is a feast for the eyes. I wish this one-of-a-kind masterpiece were available on DVD.