The Extra Man

Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's 'The Extra Man' is average stuff... that had the potential to come out as a pure gem. But, the writing is weak, especially in the final 30-minutes.

'The Extra Man', based on a novel, tells the story of a failed playwright, who develops an odd mentor relationship with a Louis Ives, a troubled, cross-dressing, aspiring writer to whom, he sublets a room in his New York apartment.

The idea, is fairly interesting, and it does hit the right points in the beginning. But, after a point, the writing begins to lose. The pace suddenly dips, and even the culmination comes out bland. Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's adapted screenplay is flawed. Their direction is just about okay.

Performance-Wise: Kevin Kline is damn good. He is the life of the show. Paul Dano does reasonably well, while John C. Reilly sports a hideous get-up. Katie Holmes is alright. Alicia Goranson is fair.

On the whole, an average effort, that had great potential, but sadly, gets wasted due to weak writing. Watch it if you must!

Bring Clifton Webb forward 60 years, add wackiness, and you have Kevin Kline as the eccentric bachelor in a rent-stabilized dump on the Upper East Side (yes, there are such flats still). His new roomie played by Paul Dano has a poignance, a sad yearning that I haven't seen conveyed so well since Timothy Bottoms in "Last Picture Show." Dano has the sort of face you only see nowadays looking at you across time in family pictures from a century ago or more. The face is ingenuous, pure. The kind of face that America just doesn't make anymore.

Both characters have built protective walls around themselves, perhaps necessarily. Though they fascinate each other, and unintentionally entertain each other, they can't decide whether or not to be real allies.

The older man depends on super-annuated ladies of wealth for his dining out and his winters in Florida. The younger man, though straight, enjoys wearing ladies lingerie while having sex. It can be all a bit depressing.But there's a soft landing, a nice ending to this opus all around.

Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline) is "The Extra Man", but to him, he's an "essential man". He seems to live in a time and class that he doesn't physically occupy. Louis Ives (Paul Dano) would really just like to be a character in an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. These characteristics were so intriguing at the beginning of the film because there are a lot of thoughtful and interesting directions to take it.

They make a great pairing, except for the fact that Henry isn't just homophobic, but proudly and defiantly, extremely homophobic, and Louis is proudly and completely confused. And neither of them understand the nature of their friendship. When the film chooses to explore Louis' inner transvestite and getting deeper into Henry's obsession as the essential man, everything just gets weird.

"The Extra Man" is an extremely intelligent film. There was clearly a lot of effort put into the writing, the characters, the acting and the making of this film, but the weird directions it took were too much for me. I want to recommend it to those who like smart, philosophical, but weird, independent films. Just look out for some "sexually deviant behaviour".

Great to see Kevin Kline in a witty role again. Cleverly written lines give some snickers, excellent techniques at times transported me. The physical slapstick was a little off, but the gags made up for it. If you like Kevin Kline, you'll like this movie. Give it a try. It will appeal to the astute mind. The rich old women are entertaining and the glimpses of the other side of life are sensitively done, with tongue in cheek. The metaphor of the pigeons is a clever one observed by Henry (Kevin Kline) himself, in this high-brow yet Oscar Wildeish thrust-and-parry into the world of the Henry and his protégé, the young gentleman. Ending on a feel-good note with the credits rolling to a zany variation of a Marc Bolan written T-Rex number 'Dandy in the Underworld'. 8/10.

It plays like a British comdey set in the USA. Well written, lively oddball characters and a twisting tale.

In the end nothing much happens but its a fun ride to get there.

Watch it.