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7

TVJerryMar 13, 2011

Barney Panofsky is a complex character: obnoxious, unsympathetic, romantic, sensitive and a little bit sweet. Although there are friends and family, most of the narrative revolves around his relationship with his three wives. As Barney, PaulBarney Panofsky is a complex character: obnoxious, unsympathetic, romantic, sensitive and a little bit sweet. Although there are friends and family, most of the narrative revolves around his relationship with his three wives. As Barney, Paul Giamatti makes the film worth watching. He brilliantly examines all sides of this complex character. What's hard is that every scene goes on too long (which makes the movie too long) and Barney keeps repeating his bad behaviors (which makes the movie frustrating). While the performances and direction are strong, Barney's character just isn't appealing.… Expand

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9

Simpkj1Jan 15, 2011

So worth the full price of a weekend ticket. I gravitate toward movies that take me from my own life, have a solid beginning/middle/END and especially if they do, with great impact, what their classification of movie genre encompasses; IfSo worth the full price of a weekend ticket. I gravitate toward movies that take me from my own life, have a solid beginning/middle/END and especially if they do, with great impact, what their classification of movie genre encompasses; If it's a comedy I want to laugh, HARD. If a horror film, I want to be scared witless, and scream. This movie delivers everything and more of what it promises. Barney is complex and endlessly engaging, his life is symphonic. He's not the devil, he's no angel. He's you and me. I laughed out loud, I cried irrepressible tears, I held my head at the ears with that 'o gosh, no no no, not that', I flushed with anger and sighed resting into intense sweetness. I hope you'll go see it, and hope you are transported. As I was.… Expand

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7

MorriBeyJun 18, 2011

A very enjoyable movie. Its something you would watch on a rainy sunday afternoon. It is not memorable by any means but it has a good start and an excellent ending. Probably because the main character is not an overtly nice guy , it doesA very enjoyable movie. Its something you would watch on a rainy sunday afternoon. It is not memorable by any means but it has a good start and an excellent ending. Probably because the main character is not an overtly nice guy , it does detract somewhat from the experience; but when should movie making always feature a redeeming character! One to watch for sure.… Expand

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6

hoops2448Mar 13, 2012

Barney's Version is not a perfect film, not by a long shot but it's clever enough in its writing and execution to be enjoyable despite the fact it is a film cut up into three separate sections and neither one ever really meshes with theBarney's Version is not a perfect film, not by a long shot but it's clever enough in its writing and execution to be enjoyable despite the fact it is a film cut up into three separate sections and neither one ever really meshes with the other.
Regardless of that, the film is a powerhouse in terms of acting performances with both Rosamund Pike and Dustin Hoffman giving career highlight performances. However the film belongs to Paul Giamatti as Barney because through his performance you can just about get past the jarring splitting up of the films narrative because the performance is so strong you'd follow it anywhere. That being said the split is incredibly noticeable with each part feeling almost like a different film. The first chapter is dark and twisted with some very black comedy and probably the most involving 30 minutes of the film. The second is lighter with a move towards more sarcastic humour which after a while grates, like Minnie Driver's character. It also includes a murder/accident plot that although important never feels relevant making the middle section of the film the weakest of the three. The final section is emotional, maybe a little too emotional, but it also explores the mundaneness of married life and how Barney has been affected by the people in his life better than the other two combined. With all this in mind it is a film that feels like it was made by three different people trying to say three different things and for that reason it can't be as powerful, moving or involving as it wants or needs to be, leading to an ending that should be poignant and bitter-sweet, but instead is entertaining but never powerful.… Expand

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10

DMacey15Feb 6, 2011

What a wonderful film! A beautiful motion picture. I love Paul Giamatti, I'll see anything with him. He's one the finest actors on the planet. He gives an Oscar deserving performance. The film's beginning/middle/end never drifts. The film isWhat a wonderful film! A beautiful motion picture. I love Paul Giamatti, I'll see anything with him. He's one the finest actors on the planet. He gives an Oscar deserving performance. The film's beginning/middle/end never drifts. The film is perfectly paced. The cast was perfect for the film. Whoever did the casting got it spot on. Dustin Hoffman & Rosamund Pike are fantastic. Go see this masterpiece, it's worth your 8 bucks.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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2

InsomniackerJan 22, 2011

The spine in this relentlessly episodic story is Barney's penchant for booze-soaked bad behavior. If only it were interesting booze-soaked bad behavior. I mean, I'll forgive a bad boy his flaws but Giamatti's got nothing to play except hisThe spine in this relentlessly episodic story is Barney's penchant for booze-soaked bad behavior. If only it were interesting booze-soaked bad behavior. I mean, I'll forgive a bad boy his flaws but Giamatti's got nothing to play except his character's desire to escape the scenes he's in. I had the same problem. If, like me, you're attracted by the talents of Mordecai Richler and Paul Giamatti, prepare yourselves for two hours and twenty minutes of disappointment, paper-thin characters, tedious histrionics and amateurish plot contrivances.… Expand

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6

ShiiraMar 18, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let's talk about the first wife, Clara(Rachelle Lefevre), the free spirit whom Barney Panofsky(Paul Giamatti) marries in a shotgun wedding during his Roman holiday. Had she lived, a divorce would have surely followed with record-setting expedience, once they reached the North American continent. It's impossible to imagine Clara as a housewife, especially a Canadian one, waiting up nightly for her curmudgeon husband's return from the bar, satiated with booze and hockey. She is, indeed, as Boogie(Scott Speedman) puts it, "a conversation piece", the woman you have good times with, not the kind who'd make a good wife. But Barney knocks her up, so out of chivalrous obligation, he finds himself walking to the Canadian embassy, not with her, mind you, but ahead of her, to the pregnant(and smoking) woman's annoyance. Clearly, this marriage is a disaster in the making, a lark. Her big day is remarkably free of any romance. Barney should be holding her hand. He realizes too late the depth of her feelings for him. Clara has to tell her future husband and his friends to wait up. Even after the woman's suicide(depression brought on by her miscarriage), Barney doesn't love and honor her properly, in memoriam. He never hashes things out with Boogie, who is at least partially responsible for her self-induced passing. On the day of the incident, Barney discovers a mailed dinner invitation from Clara that Boogie had forgotten to pass along. Was he in love with Clara? Was he sabotaging a possible reconciliation? Barney never bothers to find out: not then and not years later when the old friends lock horns in a lakeside tussle after Boogie implies that he slept with Clara. Referring to the past, the recovering drug addict opens up a can of worms, but Barney puts the lid back on. When Barney asks Boogie for a few contrite words, it's not the apology we want the television producer to pursue. The apology he wants from the failed novelist pertains to him being caught in the act with his second wife(Minnie Driver), even though he hardly seems bothered by their betrayal. Had he actually murdered Boogie on the pier(and who says he didn't since Barney is a fallible narrator), you could hardly call it a crime of passion. Barney thinks so lowly of wife number two, she doesn't even have a proper name. Vulgar and conceited, the second wife is given these unflattering characteristics because it's integral to "Barney's Version" that we don't care that the bridegroom becomes an emotional absentee from the outset of their marriage, beginning at the wedding itself. We're not supposed to notice that he's being cruel to her, this wife with no name. She's the bad person, not him. Although her family is loaded, love means more to Barney than money, which to the audience, makes the curmudgeon a man of substance when he pursues Miriam(Rosamund Pike), the third wife, right after he signs the divorce papers. Because Driver models her character after the Jewish princess stereotype, the second wife ends up being unsympathetic to the audience, a caricature of personality tics(all annoying ones), when in fact, she exhibits great character by marrying Barney(whose father is a cop, played by Dustin Hoffman), since daddy's little rich girl is marrying beneath her station. But alas, she gets no credit from the audience for following her heart. Miriam, of course, is the woman that Barney spots at his wedding, and falls head over heels with her. When asked if she follows hockey, Miriam responds, "No, but I read the newspapers," which is probably the moment that Barney is done for. Unlike the first wife, who sleeps with Barney's friends(the stillborn baby was half-black), and the second wife, who is a bit of a blowhard(she keeps going on about her masters degree from McGill), Miriam has no flaws. Only a curmudgeon could f*ck this up. In the company of the perfect woman, we can better see what the second wife had to put up with, and what the first wife had to look forward to. As Barney loses his memory, he loses control of his ability to edit; his memories are no longer selective ones, so we see him, warts and all, in his married life with Miriam.… Expand