Review of Starting Out in the Evening (2007) by Sofia G — 13 Aug 2010

The Madness of Starting Out in the Evening.

In a world of celebrity confessions and self-help books, there's hardly any place for an old, white male writer who wears a suit while working at home and goes to bed early. It's the struggle between the passion of an artist and a world that has moved on and left his craft behind, and the unstoppable and tricky business of aging and coming to terms with oneself that director Andrew Wagner explores through his most recent film, Starting Out in the Evening.

The movie tells the heart-rending store of Leonard Schiller (Frank Langella), a seventy-something year old writer in his groping attempt to finish what could be the last novel of his now-forgotten, moderately-successful literary career. Until, of course, he meets Heather Wolfe (Lauren Ambrose), a young, ambitious and presumptuous graduate student who wishes to write her dissertation on him in hope of rescuing his work from obscurity and returning it to the bookstores, or so she says. Rather, Schiller's just her her ticket into New York's literary scene. Ironically enough, Heather might just be Schiller's ticket back into the world as an established writer.

Wolfe's cynical attitude rudely clashes with Schiller's kind disposition as she attempts to weave herself into his life, and one can't help but to be averse to her artificial smile and snotty remarks. She uses her youth and audacity to prey on Schiller's vulnerability as she tries to seduce him with an acting performance that's as underdeveloped and crass as her character. Who is this girl who's so forcefully preying into Leonard's humdrum routine? Her character exposition is at best full of clichés, making Heather appear as no more than a teenage girl with a crush. One never gets to know the woman behind her frivolity.

Instead, the film takes one through Leonard's daughter, Ariel (Lili Taylor), mid-life crisis as she deals with love's imperfections, an aging father, and womanhood's callings. At the heart of her troubles is Casey (Adrian Lester), an old boyfriend who's come back into her life after their relationship hit a wall years back. Old habits die hard though, and Casey's no exception as he keeps it "hot and light" with Ariel, unwilling to settle down and start a family as she wishes to.

Every other scene one finds Leonard admonishing Ariel against her commitment-phobe of a boyfriend and how she should be steering her life and not holding on to an ideal. Sure, this gives insight into Leonard the father, the man behind his books, but regrettably Taylor's and Lester's relationship lacked substance and conviction.

As Leonard so advices Heather in one occasion, "freedom isn't the choice the world encourages and one must wear a suit of armor to defend it," and this is exactly what the characters in the film strive for ? freedom to make choices, to live, to love.

Yet, despite of the shortcomings of its plot with its lack of texture and depth, Starting Out in the Evening is delightfully salvaged by Langella's master performance. It's no wonder he embodies Schiller's character so perfectly when, as an artist himself, Langella knows how to be patient in order to produce one's best work.

"An actor's life is waiting. And when you're not waiting, you have to sift through the things that come along. Sometimes you're quite lucky and a number of things come along all at once... and sometimes you go long, long times with very little to choose from. So you must take the thing that least bothers you so to speak," he confessed during an interview.

Certainly, one will not be bother by his character in this movie. On the contrary, one will fall in love with Leonard's tenderness, twinge with annoyance at Wolfe's unscrupulous comments, but most importantly feel his very ache, deception and doubt.

So what's an intelligent, literary movie to do in times like these? Well, to put it bluntly, it surely won't make a lot of money, but as one brilliant writer once said, "that's the madness of art.".