Al Pacino's back in Barry Levinson's THE HUMBLING -- for better and for worse

What a frustrating experience is THE HUMBLING, the new film from director Barry Levinson, with a screenplay by Buck Henry from the novel of the same name by Philip Roth. Interesting, sometimes riveting -- but only in fits and starts -- the film also gives Al Pacino a juicy role which he alternately embraces and makes mincemeat of. He is not helped by Mr. Levinson, who at times seems to have deliberately decided to work in distance or long shots when what is so clearly called for is a close-up (though the director might have worried that his scenery-chewing star would once again decimate the drapes). Whatever: The Humbling might be better titled, The Fumbling.

The real problem, however, is most likely due to the source material itself. I haven't read Roth's novel, but the mostly negative criticism of it -- absurd, slight, disposable, ill conceived, and simply going-through-the-motions -- also reflects the state of this movie version. Over the years, Mr. Levinson (shown at left) has excelled in a variety of genres -- from drama to comedy to horror (see his very good and frightening film, The Bay, if you haven't already). Perhaps here, working with such a problematic tale, he has simply let it "wag" him, rather than the necessary reverse. Or it may be that a movie that jumps so many genres, as this one does, is simply not part of Levinson's metier.

But let's start with the good things, including Pacino, who, even when he's over-doing it, proves fun and often funny. Given his professed love of Shakespeare and the nice job he did with Shylock, one easily identifies with the character he plays here, Simon Axler, renowned stage actor who has recently had a bad few years.

Then there's Greta Gerwig (at right), who certainly comes into her own in the role of Pegeen, a needy, messed-up adult who, as a child, had been enamored of Simon and now comes back into his life as a possible -- if highly unlikely -- love interest. Ms Gerwig plays pretty much a femme fatale (or at least a femme maudite) here, but she manages to keep us, as she does Simon, off-balance, alternate-ly charmed and annoyed.

Somewhat wasted (due to her tiny role), Kyra Sedgwyck, above, still impresses with her strength and anger, while Diane Wiest and Dan Hedeya (below, right and left, respectively) provide some humor, as well as additional back-story.

Of the entire cast, it's probably Charles Grodin (below, left) who best nails his small role as Simon's agent, followed by Nina Arianda (at bottom, right), who has the most preposterous role of all, but manages to make it seem at least possible, if not probable. The movie might have worked better has Gerwig and Arianda switched roles: The former's easy goofiness might have better served the maybe-crazy/maybe-not wife, while the latter's drive and heavy-duty acting chops might have turned Pegeen into something approaching memorable.

As it is, the movie meanders from incident to incident, emotion to emotion, stopping for something real and then something ridiculous -- finally leaving all its characters, especially Simon, hanging out to dry. The Humbling has a lot in common with another recent movie about actors and acting: Birdman, which offers fine performances, fluid camerawork and simply no point -- no "there" there -- at all. (Both films, in fact, have a scene in which our heroic actor gets locked of his theater during a performance.)

From Millennium Entertainment (recently renamed Alchemy, which had better get -- and fast -- a decent web site up and running) and lasting a little too long at 112 minutes, The Humbling, which may humble some of those involved here, opens this coming Friday, January 23, in New York City at the AMC Empire 25 -- and elsewhere, too, though nothing has yet been posted as yet on the movie's site. Check back in a few days, and maybe someone will have updated the thing. Also, as I understand it from the web site, the film will be available simultaneously via VOD and digital streaming.

BREATHE IN: Drake Doremus tackles infidelity & intergenerational sex among the 40-somethings

Up to now TrustMovies has thought of indie filmmaker Drake Doremus (Spooner, Douchebag, Like Crazy) as someone very good at cataloging the doings of the younger set. Though that description may still fit the filmmaker best, his newest movie, BREATHE IN, harks back to those melodramas of the 40s, 50 and 60s in which an older man becomes smitten with a younger woman and may easily throw away his family in pursuit of the new "thrill."

For better or worse Doremus (shown at left) approaches this as though it were not one of the oldest stories in the book but rather something fresh, new and exciting. And because it is music and the love of same that brings our pair together, for a time the co-writer (with Ben York Jones) and director almost makes us believe it, too. He is helped greatly by his gifted cast, most especially Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones (on poster above, and below) in the leading roles, Amy Ryan (below, left, as Pearce's long-suffering, cookie-jar-loving wife) and Mackenzie Davis (in the penultimate photo) as the couple's ill-used child.

Mr. Pearce, as pater familias Keith, has the ability, in film after film after film, to seem to enter each character from the inside, changing his looks, emotional register, body language -- the works -- as befits the person at hand. He does it again here, and his role will not remind you of much else that Pearce has given us. Ms. Jones, whom Doremus used so well in Like Crazy, is equally fine, turning her character, Sophie, into someone young and needy but caring and intelligent, too. It's music and their great love of it that unites the two, and this is something that Keith can't really share with wife or daughter.

There a lovely scene of "introduction," as Sophie visits Keith's class and he asks her to play something for them. And we see several scenes of Keith as he performs in the local orchestra (there's constant tension between his two careers as teacher and musician). The affair, once it starts, seem less all-out sexual than it is a binding of two like souls. But of course it is hugely damaging to the family dynamics. And it is here that the movie shortchanges its characters -- and us. Coincidence plays far too heavy a hand in things, melodrama takes over, and the resolution is rushed and unfulfilling.

Doremus remains very good at feretting out the moments that count, however, particularly as the relationship between Keith and Sophie grows. But the story he's chosen to tell is such an old one, so tried-and-true, that, despite fine performances all around, without more meat on its bones, Breathe In (the title comes from an exercise Sophie gives Keith to relieve his stress) simply delivers another cautionary tale of which we've seen far too many previously, and many of them better that this.

The movie, form Cohen Media Group and running 98 minutes, opens this Friday, March 28, in New York City at the AMC Empire 25 and Village VII, and the Bowtie Chelsea Cinema, and in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Royal, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5 on Friday, April 4.

The photos above are from the film itself, with the exception 

of that of Mr. Doremus, which is by Chelsea Lauren, 

and is used courtesy of Getty Images.

Louiso/Koskoff's HELLO I MUST BE GOING gives Melanie Lynskey her best role in years

The empty nest syndrome -- and how, these days in particular, that nest is filling up again -- gets a good working-over in the quiet, unusual and very interesting film, HELLO I MUST BE GOING. If you know movies and the Marx Brothers, the title should ring a bell on one level, for there's a father-daughter bond here around Groucho and his comedic siblings. On another level, however, the title acts as a lovely and precise explanation. The first word could be addressed by our leading character to herself, as she discovers a bit more of her identity; the rest involves her quest to move out of her parents' home and on with her life, after a divorce that clearly has left her more than a little unsettled and unsure of herself.

Directed by Todd Louiso (shown at left), a fellow we most often think of as actor (recently seen in the excellent A Bag of Hammers), from a screenplay by fledgling writer and also an actress, Sarah Koskoff (shown below), the movie is at once oddball and endearing -- a combination rather often seen at the Sundance Film Festival. Sure enough, the movie opened this year's festival, where it received mixed notices and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.
TrustMovies is uncertain just why the film drew those mixed

responses, as his was pretty thoroughly positive -- the reason being the combination of writing that is particularly well-observed concerning character, direction that never pushes that endearing quality (or anything else) but simply tells the story as swiftly and economically as possible, and performances that could not be more on the mark yet never descend into rote or cliché.

The film's cast has been chosen quite well, with each performer -- except one -- obviously used for his or her "known" qualities. These would include our leading lady, Melanie Lynskey (above), who is always good but here has the kind of rich and hefty role (she is on-screen practically all the time) that allows us to learn a great deal about her character. Sad and not seemingly adept at much of anything, she appears quite the lost girl. As we learn more, however, her disparate pieces pull together nicely.

As her pushy, too-helpful mom and her passive dad, Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein are both excellent. Ms Danner, above, slowly reveals the layers of pain and hurt that have built up over decades, and she turns from a kind of monster into something quite human. Mr. Rubinsitein, on the other hand does the opposite -- moving quietly from a good-guy dad to someone masking his selfishness and anger none too well.

This family has some interesting neighbors, in particular a therapist mom (Julie White, at a slightly lower key than I am used to seeing and hearing her, and this is welcome indeed) and her just-about-to-graduate-from-high-school son. The latter is played by the one "unknown" in this bunch, an actor named Christopher Abbott (shown above, and whom I do not remember from Martha Marcy May Marlene but now can be seen in HBO's sitcom Girls). Mr. Abbott's role is pivotal here -- for reasons that would be a spoiler to divulge -- and this young actor is phenomenally good in it. The character he creates is unlike any I have seen. He's an original, and so it would seem is young Abbott, who should soon be quickening minds and pulses, if not setting hearts ablaze.

I could go into more plot -- and more critique -- but this is a sweet and quiet little movie best savored on your own. Distributed via Oscilloscope Laboratories and running 95 minutes, Hello I Must Be Going opens in New York (at the Angelika Film Center) and Los Angeles (at The Landmark) this Friday, September 7. You can view all the currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters included by clicking here.

Photos are from the film itself, except 

for that Mr. Louiso (by George Pimentel, 

courtesy of GettyImages.com) and Ms. Koskoff 

(by Andrew H. Walker, courtesy of Getty Images.com).