08 February 2015

One-Liners: Outliers


VIOLETTE (B-minus) - Emmanuelle Devos is captivating as the troubled writer Violette Leduc, who pushed the boundaries of sexuality alongside Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Genet in the World War II era.

The story, however, is a bit of a plod, limping across the finish line at the 2-hour 18-minute mark. Devos transforms herself for the role, shedding her unique beauty for a homely, slump-shouldered wallflower -- to the point that I was convinced that Devos had doctored her face with prosthetics. She wallows in the role.

Leduc wrote provocative quasi-biographical novels, with the most scandalous topic involving the lesbianism of her early years. In this telling she is liberated after reading "Madame Bovary" and soon is trailing de Beauvoir like a puppy dog. Leduc struggled with the abandonment of childhood. (One of her titles is the memoir "The Bastard.") She was often penniless, rescued only by a generous secret benefactor working through her publisher.

The drama is touching, but it can be wearying and relentlessly dreary.

BIG SUR (B-minus) - This little oddity is salvaged by an inspired performance by Jean-Marc Barr as Jack Kerouac in a mental and existential tailspin while lying low in Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in Big Sur, Calif., in 1960. Barr broods and battles demons, all the while narrating in the Beatnik stream-of-consciousness patter that echoes his speed-fueled writing style.

This is brought to us by Michael Polish, working without his brother, Mark. (They wrote and Michael directed such great early films as "Twin Falls, Idaho," "Northfork," and the slighted 2007 gem "The Astronaut Farmer.") Michael Polish, interpreting Kerouac's book of the same title, is unfortunately heavy-handed and fumbling throughout most of the film, and too many of his actors are off-key.

We get endless, repetitive Hallmark shots of the grandiosity of Big Sur's cliffs and waves. However, Polish is more enamored of that natural beauty than his Kerouac is. And the editing is stomach-flipping, whipping from shot to shot every couple of seconds. And I lost count of the times his camera swooped upward to capture the twinkling sunshine filtering through the majestic trees.

That's Kerouac looking heavenward a lot. He's haunted by death (a cat, a rat and a sea otter all perish)
 and slowly resigning himself to the idea that he's a drunk whose days are numbered. And if you can find your way into the character, you'll make it to the satisfying conclusion of "Big Sur." (And you'll be carried along by mood music from the Dessner brothers from The National.)

The supporting cast is forgettable. Radha Mitchell and Kate Bosworth (the director's fresh wife) fare poorly in the macho world. Character actors never click with this period piece: Anthony Edwards as Ferlinghetti, Josh Lucas ("The Mysteries of Laura") as Neal Cassady, and Patrick Fischler ("Mad Men") as Lew Welch.

This is mostly a misfire by Polish, salvaged by an admirable lead performance. 

ART & CRAFT (B) -  This quiet documentary tells the fascinating tale of Mark Landis, a spooky little man with incredible artistic talent who forges masterpieces and then -- rather than try to sell them -- pawns them off on museums, accompanied by elaborately crafted sob stories about his alleged family members. He creates alter-egos, including a priest persona.

Three directors (including noted cinematographer/DP Sam Bullman from "The House I Live In" and "Watchers of the Sky") take a deliberate approach, unspooling Landis' story while struggling to manufacture a detective narrative featuring Landis' Ahab, Mark Leininger. It's all quite straightforward and interesting, but the attempt at intrigue falls flat. The climax misses an opportunity to hit an emotional high note.

Landis is quite the character study, though. The filmmakers peel away a few layers but not nearly all of them. It's hard to begrudge him over this lark. He's a lonely man who just wants to be a philanthropist, and he's really not doing anything illegal. It's a neat trick that he pulled off for years.

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