Mordecai Richler is one of Canada’s most celebrated novelists and Barney’s Version is considered by many to be his best book.
It is a richly detailed, warts and all look at the life of one Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), a man who drinks too much, screws up, marries three women and is suspected of murdering his best friend. Barney may think he has an unremarkable life but he actually manages to pack an awful lot of living into it.
The film is split into three main parts, corresponding to his three marriages: the first in Italy (doomed to failure) and the following two back home in Canada. It is while in the process of marrying the second Mrs P, a massively wealthy Jewish Princess in love with her own voice (a lovely comic turn from Minnie Driver), that Barney spots Miriam (Rosamund Pike) and knows nothing will ever be the same again. For Miriam is the one true love of his life and Barney pursues her with single-minded intensity.
Some screen pairings turn out to be marriages made in heaven and Giamatti and Pike play off each other well; she calm and serene, he awkward and klutzy. However, it is the interaction between Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman as his brash but loving dad that is the true joy to behold here. The scenes in which they are centre stage together (most notably at Barney’s over the top second wedding) light up the screen. Giamatti is not a flamboyant actor, he simply becomes whoever he is playing and his performance as Barney, through all his ups and downs, is consistently good.
Don’t let the running time — almost two and a quarter hours — of this movie put you off because it never once drags or loses your attention. However, some episodes are more successful than others and one sequence in which Barney, the second Mrs P and his best friend Boogie (Scott Speedman), spend an anything but relaxing weekend at their lakeside cottage is packed full of incident and laughs.
Mordecai Richler is one of Canada’s most celebrated novelists and Barney’s Version is considered by many to be his best book. It is a richly detailed, warts and all look at the life of one Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), a man who drinks too much, screws up, marries three women and is suspected of murdering his best friend. Barney may think he has an unremarkable life but he actually manages to pack an awful lot of living into it. The film is split into three main parts, corresponding to his three marriages: the first in Italy (doomed to failure) and the following two back home in Canada. It is while in the process of marrying the second Mrs P, a massively wealthy Jewish Princess in love with her own voice (a lovely comic turn from Minnie Driver), that Barney spots Miriam (Rosamund Pike) and knows nothing will ever be the same again. For Miriam is the one true love of his life and Barney pursues her with single-minded intensity. Some screen pairings turn out to be marriages made in heaven and Giamatti and Pike play off each other well; she calm and serene, he awkward and klutzy. However, it is the interaction between Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman as his brash but loving dad that is the true joy to behold here. The scenes in which they are centre stage together (most notably at Barney’s over the top second wedding) light up the screen. Giamatti is not a flamboyant actor, he simply becomes whoever he is playing and his performance as Barney, through all his ups and downs, is consistently good. Don’t let the running time — almost two and a quarter hours — of this movie put you off because it never once drags or loses your attention. However, some episodes are more successful than others and one sequence in which Barney, the second Mrs P and his best friend Boogie (Scott Speedman), spend an anything but relaxing weekend at their lakeside cottage is packed full of incident and laughs.
If you liked the convoluted, wildly inventive storylines of Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine…
Author: Dee Pilgrim
Dee always knew she wanted to make her living from writing and so trained as a journalist before working for a variety of music and women’s titles including Sounds, Company, Cosmopolitan, Ms London, New Woman, and Girl About Town.
After going freelance she concentrated on celebrity interviews and film, theatre, music and restaurant reviews. Her love of film goes back to her very first cinema experience at the age of five when her mother took her to see Bambi.
She cried. At one time she was the Film Editor for NOW magazine and also the secretary for the film section of the Critics’ Circle and the celebrity coordinator for its annual film awards’ event. She has written a number of books for teenagers through Trotman Publishing, including five Real Life Guides to vocational careers (including Carpentry, Plumbing and Catering), and also three books on Real Life Issues (Money, Bereavement and Self Harm).
Her favourite film is still Bladerunner.
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