"Brief Interviews With Hideous Men"
2009
Written and Directed by John Krasinki based on the short story collection of same title by David Foster Wallace
Starring: Julianne Nicholson, Christopher Meloni, etc.
Perhaps there is something disingenuous about reviewing a film that one has only watched 1/2 of, but this is too good an opportunity to pass up.
This film is based on a collection of stories by the late, some would say great, David Foster Wallace. I happen to think "Good Old Neon" is one of the best stories I've ever read, and for that, Mr. Wallace has my infinite (teehee) respect. That said, and without commenting on the book on which this film is based (because I haven't read it)-- as a film in a context removed from the story-- Krasinki's directorial debut has to be the most boring piece of cinema I've laid eyes on.
The main character, Sara, played by Julianne Nicholson (no offense, but I think she is WAY too old to be a TA) sleepwalks her way through campus functions, lectures, interviews with "hideous" men, and various confabs with her social circle. I'd say they are friends, but I get no indication from the acting. She's boring, the cinematography is boring, and Krasinki makes the subject matter boring. There's no life to anything on screen.
So, why did I stop a movie halfway through for only the second time in a year? Because there's nothing to this. It doesn't say or depict anything that hasn't already been said or depicted by superior films ("In the Company of Men" and "Glengarry Glen Ross" come to mind right off), and I fail to see what's so hideous about "boys being boys." To me, something hideous or ugly would have to be something out of the ordinary. Something that didn't constitute "normal" behavior-- or what passes for it. Sure, you can say, "well, maybe you missed all the truly heinous bits in the final half of the film." Maybe. But who wants to watch half of a film before there is any kind of payoff at all?
Here, Krasinski suffers from Zach Braff syndrome. Just another relatively wet-behind-the-ears tv actor who thinks he has something to say, so he spends a lot of money and wastes a lot of people's time trying to say it.
Hell, he even had a head-up! He had source material. From a bad ass writer. If this film is an accurate representation of the late Mr. Wallace's book, then wow, it's gotta be his lesser material.
Part of the problem is that Krasinki doesn't allow scenes to linger or build. They're static and then they're gone. You can't even settle in on anything before there's a cut to another interview or Sara being followed around by two guys pondering the "mysterious" nature of women. My sense is that Wallace's book is about a woman who gets a glimpse of the inner workings of men vis-a-vis these interviews, and as the stories go on, she sees how said workings affect her own relationship with a specific man (played by Krasinski himself).
Instead of centering the film on her as a character, we get this spliced, artsy-fartsy, segmented display of thoughts that go absolutely nowhere. It's humorless, drab, and it gave me no indication that it was suddenly going to establish the kind of focus necessary to drive home whatever ideas it has.
I will say that Christopher Meloni stole the half of the film I saw. The guy can act.
Other than that, poorly played.
