Review of Barney's Version (2010) by Glenn M — 17 Feb 2012

I'll start off by saying this is a good movie... even a great movie. The thing you need to realize going in though is it's one of "those" movies: It's artsy in it's pacing if not in it's elements. Also how it introduces a fair amount of threads that go largely unresolved. (Ironically, one loose end thread... a major one, does get completely and neatly sown up at the end much to the detriment of the overall tone of the movie.).

The star studded cast by and large lives up to it's reputation. Minnie Driver perhaps being the exception but then she goes into it with a large handicap of seeming too old for the part. Rosamund Pike is a newcomer to me that really rises to the occasion and holds her own as Miriam paired with Paul Giamatti's Barney.

The thing that mostly keeps me from giving this movie a five star rating is admittedly a personal one. I am very tired of the unending succession of woman vastly superior to man portrayals in everything from art house movies to television commercials. As I think back, Forrest Gump may be the last thing I recall seeing where the male character came out in any way superior to the female counterpart. Here again, Barney is the flawed and inferior vessel to the utterly perfect and all knowing Miriam. That aspect if more than old for me, but that's not a fault of this movie so much as it is a sign of the times.

Recommended! Just don't think you'll be getting light hearted entertainment. While "Barney's Version" does have it's light hearted moments, it's largely a very heavy movie.