Review of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009) by Jerome G — 20 Oct 2010
Risk is something that's seldom seen in the multiplexes these days, so John Krasinkski's directorial debut, an adaptation of David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, is a major breath of fresh air.
This 80 minute baby first played at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and is now on DVD, so get crackin'. Law and Order: Criminal Intent star Julianne Nicolson heads a sprawling cast as Sara, a graduate student suffering a sudden break-up from her boyfriend (Krasinski).
She embarks on a research project in which she interviews men to figure out what makes them tick and why they tend to behave so badly. Her subject range from a funny/creepy Will Forte, to a brutally honest friend (Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie).
In between are her encounters with other men, like her professor (Timothy Hutton) and a persistent student (Dominic Cooper). The pacing is fast, immediate and provocative, not unlike the author whose book the movie's based on, and who tragically took his own life a few years ago.
Krasinski ends the film with a quote from the writer himself: 'The truth will set you free, but not until it is finished with you'. It's that brutally self-aware spirit that informs Krasinski's film, and helps him to form a kinship with a literary provacateur who liked to rub nerves raw.
This is a film not to be missed.
This review of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009) was written by Jerome G on 20 Oct 2010.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men has generally received mixed reviews.
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