My review of "Barney's Version"

Over the weekend I went to see Barney's Version and while overall I enjoyed the film it left me with some thoughts and questions.

Let me start by stating for those who don't already know, Paul Giamatti is one of the better actors of our time, he has mastered the art of dramatic comedy and in this film showed what a good actor can do with a mediocre script. His portrayal of Barney Panofsky is brilliant, he manages to layer his character and really convey the essence of a man that is of two minds and two hearts. Let the record also show that Dustin Hoffman who plays Giamatti's father in the film is subtly masterful, while its clear he drew quite a bit from his character in the "Meet The Parents" franchise, he still manages to compliment Giamatti very well and adds moments of real delight to the film.

Now, with that said there are aspects to this film that are less than spectacular. The first being the length, it runs 132 minutes and drags on at certain points. I'm usually a fan of length because I enjoy very detailed storylines but this one seemed to add length for no reason, if certain parts of the story had been resolved then maybe the time lags wouldn't have been so apparent, if at all. That leads me to my next issue, the film introduces certain things into the story that are never fully resolved, like how 'Boogie' played by Scott Speedman dies and its never actually revealed how it actually happened, disappointingly so because Barney was his suspected murderer. The film hints at an explanation but its a bit of a stretch and never confirmed. Near the end they seemed to want to just be done with the murder suspect part of the plot as the story had already developed into so much more away from that, the film really could have done without the whole accused of murder story.

There are many who may not like the dark and sad ending to the film but I actually thought it was well done, it showed an elderly Barney losing his memory and having to be taken care of by his ex-wife and kids whom he had hurt in the past, it presented the moral that in the end all you have is family. It really helped leave the audience feeling the effect it deserved and that which the writing otherwise did not provide.

Overall the cast was well put together and the roles well executed, in many ways it reminds me of "There Will Be Blood" whereby a less than award worthy film is carried by more than awards worthy performances.