Grade: A-
Bottom line: It may take awhile to connect with Barney, but in the end, that’s best for this genre-crossing film by a Northwestern alumnus.
Check out our interview with director Richard J. Lewis here.
Richard J. Lewis’ film adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s 1997 book is sold short by its trailer. There are moments from the film’s first half that rightfully feel like scenes from a rom-com, but there are darker moments when unsettling tension is masked as slap-stick through cheerful music in the two-minute clip. Trying to narrow down the story of Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti) and his three wives to one genre takes away from what undeniably straddles several categories. But don’t expect the comedy you see above to last. Giamatti’s performance may have been nominated in the Golden Globes’ Comedy or Musical category (and won), but the heart of Barney’s Version is Barney’s third marriage to Miriam (Rosamund Pike), which, if you noticed in the depressing second half of the trailer, inevitably hits rocky waters. Don’t hold your breath for a happy ending.
For a movie called Barney’s Version, though, there aren’t many parts of the story left up for the audience to determine whether Barney is trying to spin the truth. In fact, for his version, Barney seems to be his harshest critic in his quest for the love of his life. If mistakes made in his relationships are left out, it’s probably because there wasn’t room in the film’s running time to include them all. This retelling of Barney’s life isn’t meant to protect his personal legacy. It’s an honest reflection on what happens when he meets his soulmate on the day of his second wedding. That honesty makes the turbulence of his relationship with Miriam touching. And in the moments when Barney’s eventual struggle with Alzheimer’s — a key component of the original novel — shows its face, those moments when truth is warped and for a second we re-evaluate how much longer Barney can tell his story accurately, “touching” becomes “hard to watch” in the most captivating way.
Although Barney’s personal life is indeed turbulent, he is not a larger-than-life, instantly loveable personality. Our first impressions are somewhat underwhelming, and so, unsurprisingly, the audience’s relationship with Barney may only grow slowly. It’s not that he, like many protagonists, has flaws — when he does screw up his relationships in the film, there are variable amounts of both frustration and sympathy — it’s because he is average. Barney is not extraordinary. He is extra ordinary.
Ultimately, however, it’s his normalcy that makes the film’s ending emotional and effective. His struggle for control over his own pursuit of happiness is only heartbreaking after seeing his highs, his lows and especially his plainer moments when he is in control. At times the biographical journey with Barney might seem like it’s leading up to nothing, but going on that journey with Barney is required reading for the big emotional reward that is Barney’s eventual unraveling. As Miriam tells Barney in one scene, “Life’s real. It’s made up of little things, minutes, hours, naps, errands, routine. And it has to be enough.” For Barney’s Version, it most certainly is.