Barney's Version

Barney’s Version is one of those films that tells the life story of a fairly unlikeable chap that, when his chickens come home to roost, then leaves it up to the viewer at the end whether you have any sympathy for him or not. The film follows Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), producer of low grade television shows, and the tangled life he has led. Mainly it’s about his relationship with the women in his life, but too say too much here would be to give the full game away, though the nice tag-line (“First he got married. Then he got married again. Then he met the love of his life.”) gives you some idea as to what Barney is like. Told partly in flashback we see Panofsky, hard drinking and cigar chewing, bounce between numerous females, whilst occasionally interacting with a motley collection of friends and trying to convince a policeman that he is innocent of murdering a friend of his many years previous. As can be read from that, this is a slightly odd film. It doesn’t really have any indie aspirations, but it’s certainly not mainstream either. There are many problems with it, but it still comes out as a decent film. Director Richard J Lewis (adapting Mordecai Richler’s novel) struggles to keep a grip on everything at once and at times the pace almost crawls to a halt. However, he is smart enough to concentrate on Giamatti at all times and this saves the film. Giamatti isn’t really known as under-rated anymore, but he’s brilliant in stuff like this, as opposed to hamming it up a la Shoot Em Up. He embodies Panofsky so well that at times you’ll be so exasperated with his actions you’ll be physically wanting to reach into the cinema screen and shake him out of his stupor or ask him why he makes such foolish decisions all the time. Acting wise there is decent support from others, if limited in terms of screen time, including Rosamund Pike and Scott Speedman, but it’s Dustin Hoffman who shines brightest from the sidelines playing Panofsky’s father and the few scenes they share together, whether they are formed by comedy or tragedy, you’ll be hard pressed to find better elsewhere. Then comes the film’s final gambit, as Panofsky begins to succumb to illness. Can you garner any sympathy for him or is this karma giving him all he deserves? However you feel, the scene where the audience first realises something is up comes as a shock and the film’s final scene, basically where a close up of Giamatti’s face ties up a plot strand is film making of the highest quality.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Not quite the sum of its parts, but Giamatti is the vital cog that keeps it turning throughout. Rating: 7/10