Review of Barney's Version (2010) by Dave C — 23 Jan 2012

Barney's Version is a film about life, one that is bound to connect on some level with our own, but more so one that is content to observe the incredibly messy and compelling life of Barney's own personal journey for what it might have to teach us. He is at once capable of the most incredible and life giving act and at the next the most despicable, selfish and mistake ridden choices. He is a hopeless romantic capable of falling in love, but struggles in the thick of things to walk the sometimes difficult waters of relationship that require him to fully risk himself in love. He is a fighter on one hand but has an incredible lack of self confidence. He loves the idea of life but at the end of the day gives in to fear. He wants to believe in himself but struggles to allow someone to believe fully in him.

While the character of Barney feels somewhat like a piece of hyperbole characterization on the surface, underneath that is something that, even surprisingly, strikes you as completely familiar and uncomfortably honest. And Paul Giamatti embodies this sort of tension extremely well. Even when we are left to wonder exactly why Miriam has chosen to give herself sacrificially to this incredibly self conscious and broken individual (even knowing the dangers that come with that), it also allows us room to believe that this sort of love is possible, both for his sake and hers, and even ours. And this is what balances this film between hope and despair.

The movement of the film, which acts as a sum of many parts, is a bit chaotic as it spans three marriages, and a handful of relationships. But there are some incredible moments, some touching, some infuriating, some full of hope, some full of despair, some humorous and some joyful. It is a journey that doesn't necessarily expect the lead character to move from incomplete to complete, but rather allows him to carry the sum of his parts, his life, to the end. And that makes this movie perhaps feel a bit too close to real life for comfort, but wonderfully revealing at the same time.