Review of The Great Buck Howard (2008) by Eric F — 23 Sep 2009

You make recognize Troy Gabel (Colin Hanks) from "The Great Buck Howard". He's an aspiring writer who plays a straight man to his eccentric partner, and much of the film is told through voiceover narration. Colin Hanks, although possessing a likable screen presence, hasn't shown much in the way of variety in his young career - in this case, he's rehashing the same college student from "Orange County". It's unfair to be too harsh on the uninspired and tedious character progression of Colin's character, however, as the fault of "The Great Buck Howard" is the flat script. Much like another film from 2008's Sundance film festival, "What Just Happened", "The Great Buck Howard", despite good performances, relies on too many conventions and ends up being something you'll forget a week after seeing it.

Troy Gabel is a student at law school discovering that law school may, in fact, not be for him. He's too worried to express his disinterest to his tuition-paying father (Tom Hanks), however, and instead he ends up taking up an offer to be a celebrity's personal assistant. Buck Howard (John Malkovich) was famous for appearing on Johnny Caron's "Tonight Show" 61 times, however since Leno has taken over he's vanished into obscurity. Much like Randy the Ram in "The Wrestler", Howard finds himself working in small half-full venues, still absorbed into thinking he's a bigger deal than he is. He walks on stage with his goofy smile, and delivers trademark lines like "I love this town!" in towns no one has ever heard of.

Howard's show is very much based on what he calls "effects". His big climax is when he'll get the audience to hide his pay for the night. If he doesn't find it, he worked for free. No matter where the audience hides it, in their shoes or hats, Howard, without fails, makes his way to it. The best scenes are late in the film where, for the first time ever, Howard pathetically stumbles around the room, having "lost" his touch.

Although "The Great Buck Howard" is rather pedestrian, the performance of John Malkovich brings the film some much needed life. Malkovich, playing a very similar primadonna eccentric to his characters in "Being John Malkovich" and "Burn After Reading", inhabits this odd carny character with such enthusiasm and sureness. He's playing a cartoon in every way, from his handshake to his tricks, but somehow Malkovich makes Howard not only believable, but actually likable and sympathetic. The film is comprised of many scenes that don't and few that do, but the few that do are special only for Malkovich's talents. The ending of the film, in particular, is very satisfying.

"The Great Buck Howard" is currently available on the X-Box 360 Market Place and OnDemand, but i'm not sure i'd quite recommend it. It's nothing offensively bad, but it's so forgettable that you could wait until it's on cable.