The Pallbearer

"The Pallbearer", a schizophrenic cross-genre muddling of comedy, drama, and romance with idiosyncratic characters and a thin, marginally interesting story. Schwimmer is at the center of this slow moving, somewhat quirky flick about a young man who lives with his mother (Bosco anyone?) and courts a demure unassured girl (Paltrow) while having an affair with an older woman (Hershey). Most will find it difficult to get their head into this off-kilter story and its subtle tongue-in-cheek humor though it remains loyal to its purpose throughout...whatever that may be.

The tone of this film is really difficult to convey on paper. It manages to successfully capture the elusive appeal that David Schwimmer has from time to time; it's easy for his sad-sack personality to grow annoying and pathetic, but this script managed to walk that line. The scenes of embarrassment and shame never seem overdone or cheap, and serve the story well. I especially like the down-to-earth, realistic beauty that Gwyneth Paltrow always brings to a role; she never seems like a movie star playing a real person. Because of Schwimmer's brief tenure as a star with buzz, this was seen as a box office failure, but it was never the kind of movie likely to rake in huge bucks. For what it is, a small, thoughtful, offbeat romantic comedy, The Pallbearer is a winner.

I wasn't sure what to expect about this movie. I remembered that it was a "bomb" when it appeared in theatres so I kept passing it by at the video store. It's often out but I'm glad that I took the time to watch it. I thought the characters were appealing & the situations they found themselves in rang true. A 25 year old floundering around, messing up with his friends was fitting. David Schwimmer isn't my favorite but the movie played to his strengths, and you can see that Gwyneth is due to break out as a star plus the rest of the cast is solid. I am especially glad that I didn't read the comments until I saw the movie. I see the negative points but if you approach the movie as a quirky romantic comedy with a dark twist you will be entertained & laugh & smile some too.

The Pallbearer will be compared with The Graduate. A graduate (Tom, played by David Schwimmer), only one year later, has an affair with an older woman. She is the mother of a dead guy named Bill. Tom did not know Bill but the mother thinks he was his best friend. He plays along. The affair starts but Tom is really in love with a younger girl named Julie (Gwyneth Paltrow). So far this is a lot like The Graduate and in my opinion this wasn't a good part of the movie although it had its funny scenes.

The comparison with The Graduate holds on in the main plot-line may be, but The Pallbearer takes a different way in the way it is shown to us. I liked how the movie developed from that moment on. Especially the ending is well-chosen.

David Schwimmer was a better lead than I expected, he wasn't that bad. Most funny scenes were happening because of him. Gwyneth Paltrow was lovely and for me she made sure I liked the movie a little more. It is not very good but it has a couple of good laughs, a nice story and a nice chemistry between Schwimmer and Paltrow.

Pallbearer is a story about a guy who has not gained anything in his life and his future does not look promising either. Well, he is healthy and sane but incredibly unfortunate because he has probably been a too kind person: the life he was supposed to be living has slipped through his fingers. Turning now into latter part of his twenties he realizes that he's still a little boy and he should start doing something.

He will have a hopeless crush on a girl, and likewise a widow who has lost his son too will have a hopeless crush on him and that leads into a romance that is both tragic and comical. David Schwimmer makes a good performance as the guy who has to survive from many kinds of embarrassing situations, and Paltrow as the woman will do the standard Paltrow set. Nothing too surprising in the plot but the film is relatively good watching because of some well worked little scenes that faintly resemble Mr. Bean episodes.