___________
Paranoid Park, Pierce Brosnan
___________
The film follows the before-and-after events surrounding the accidental killing of a security guard at a rail yard near the park by Alex (Gabe Nevins), one of the skateboarders. Van Sant’s camera stays with the self-contained Alex, and we see the world through his eyes. When questioned at school by a police interrogator in a phony ‘I’m your friend, I’m cool too’ manner one day at school, Alex has his polite but terse answers ready. He’s smart enough to lie convincingly but we see that he’s not smart enough to realize that his choices will ultimately lock him in emotionally for life.
Alex’s protective emotional covering is cracked just once, when he reveals to a female friend, ‘I just feel like there’s something outside of normal life.’ We’ve also seen the introspective teen drawing and writing in an attempt to deal with his feelings and there’s a hint that Alex, who is struggling with the accidental death and the fallout from his parent’s divorce, might be struggling with gay sexuality, but it’s elusive—as mysterious and out-of-reach as Alex is himself.
A 1953 pulp mystery novel is the source material for an intriguing black comedy of manners and murder entitled Married Life, a film by Ira Sachs, another out director. Chris Cooper is the oh-so-polite Harry, who has fallen deeply in love with Kay (Rachel McAdams) but can’t marry her; he can’t bear to divorce his wife, Pat (Patricia Clarkson), because he’s convinced she won’t be able to handle it. All this he reveals to his best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), who listens sympathetically. But when Richard, who is single, gets a look at the platinum blonde knockout Kay, he decides to make a play for her himself.
Just as this is happening Harry decides that the only thing to do is to kill Pat to spare her feelings, and that’s when the real trouble starts. Sachs’ film takes its arch, darkly comedic tone from Hitchcock’s underrated The Trouble with Harry—the movie sounds the same, sort of looks the same (the period detail and costumes are impeccable) and, at one point, McAdams, who is made up to look like Kim Novak in Vertigo, even says, ‘The trouble with Harry … ‘ at the beginning of one of her speeches, drawing laughs from knowing Hitchcock fans. But the delicious premise is a sham and suffers from Sachs’ fealty to the constrained social rituals of the era, which keep the emotions in check. Todd Haynes’ homage of the same rigid conventions in Far From Heaven, which the film reminds one of, used Douglas Sirk’s passionate soap operas instead of Hitchcock’s cool psychological studies as his inspiration, which allowed his characters to act out—at least behind closed doors. The folks in Married Life, however, stay as strapped in as those stiff fashions the women are forced to wear, and the polite veneer erodes your interest in the outcome. Sachs’ movie could have used one of those over-the-top emotional outbursts a la Sirk and a much better title (Married Life is as bland a title as one could want—the point, I realize, but still …). Charming and diverting as it is, Married Life ends up not nearly as involving as either its pulp mystery source material or as darkly entertaining as its Hitchcock homage promises.
Film Notes:
—Mass Romantic, an indie feature shot in Chicago last summer and co-produced by Cyra Polizzi, will have its one-night-only Chicago premiere on Thurs., March 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark. Director Richard Paro will be present for a post-screening Q&A followed by a party for audience members at Mickey’s Grille & Pub, 2831 N. Broadway. Guests can meet cast and crew members and exchange their ticket stubs for free drinks. The film, which was shot in black and white, is a relationship drama that follows a group of activists and academics in search of love while working on political art. Queer politics and transphobia are just two of the topics touched on in the film. LGBT characters, actors and musicians have all been part of the creation of Mass Romantic. Tickets are $10-$15. Further information (including the film’s trailer) is at www.mudgeonsoul.org.
—Columbia College is presenting its 2nd Annual Q* Film Fest, a competition for the college’s student filmmakers that focuses on LGBT-themed shorts. The five finalists in the competition (with titles like The Rocky Whore Picture Shore and Lady’s Night) will be screened Wed., March 19, at 7 p.m., with the winner traveling to the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. The screening and post-event reception are free to the public and will take place at Columbia’s Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor. Call 312-344-6700 for more info.
—Let’s Get Lost, the 1989 documentary by über-fashion photographer Bruce Weber about Chet Baker, jazz’s poster boy for the beautiful and the damned, opens at the Music Box Fri., March 14, with a new 35mm print. The film, rarely seen since its initial release and not available on DVD, is a cogent example of Weber’s objectification of Baker’s haunting beauty and musical talent—and resonates so deeply because both were so senselessly, mysteriously thrown away.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com. Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my new book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.