Barney's Version

source: Barney's Version

The film was a disappointment despite Paul geamettie's brilliant acting, just boring with no real point to it, great senses but they just add up to a big nothingness and are somewhat unbelievable, such as ( SPOILER STOP READING NOW IS YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM ) how come the main character dose not have a guilty conscious about killing his friend? But is very guilty in cheating on his wife? Just too meny things that make no sense and the whole film is just depressing and boring

Let's say you are not Canadian. Or Jewish. Then how are you entertained by the movie? Alternatively, how do you explain that Giamatti won the Golden Globe for a COMEDY? To me, the film is overlong, depressing, and devoid of entertainment. The acting is a dissonance. Dustin Hoffman is trying to be lovable Dustin Hoffman and to take over every scene he is in. Minnie Driver is fine but her character supposedly did her master's at McGill and shows nothing of the sort. Actress portraying 3d wife/"love of entire life" does not do any acting, and Giammatti is forced to overact (I actually think he is brilliant in showing the aging of the character through the physical cues, but watching one scene after another of drinking/smoking/doing something idiotic gets tiring after awhile). I do not join the criticisms along the lines "how did all these women fell for this guy?"--it happens, women like to be pursued and do not necessarily fall for Apollonic beauty or Emily Post table manners. I have not read the book, so can't really comment on faithfulness of the movie, but I do think the title is unfortunate (i.e. something works fine for the way the book is structured but not here). Thumbs down. Unless you are Jewish Canadian.

This is a technically well craft film that is flawed for a number of reasons. Firstly the movie plays just like a book, it has that bad translation to film feel to it that never lets you forget that it was someone's novel first, and the film is obviously missing pages, yet feels overly long. Maybe that's just because this is one of those youth till old age stories that books can do well but movies always fail at when they cast the same actors in all age roles. Giamatti plays the central character, an alleged babe magnet who manages to pull and marry 3 good looking women. Giamatti is so unappealing and this is one of the central flaws of the movie. ie no one believes the character Giamatti creates is in the slightest bit interesting or appealing, and this character is the same character he plays in almost every movie he's done, and I for one don't need to see him do it again. The saving grace of this movie is Rosamund Pike. She is fantastic and highly believable as the infatuation of love at first sight. Smart and sexy, we can never believe she'd fall for Giamatti's salivating dog act. Most of the rest of the movie is OK. Good cinematography, locations and supporting cast and performances, but fatally flawed to average by a central miscasting. Giamatti's character is a TV producer and we get to see him as an object of desire to attractive women while being a cigar slobbering drunk, a myth I'm sure badly aging slobbering drunk movie makers want to perpetuate too.

I know some are raving about Giamatti's performance, but I don't think he pulls it off, and I didn't buy the different "ages" he was supposed to be portraying. The film "tells" us he wears his heart on his sleeve, but I don't see it. And the Jewish stereotypes in the movie are just silly and repulsive. Minnie Driver, who seems to disappear whenever she has to hide her native British accent, does such a terrible carbon copy of a "Jewish Princess," that it was hard to watch. Meanwhile, there's hardly anyone worth rooting for in the film, and it's really a stretch to see why all these women are attracted to Barney. Barney's one redeeming quality would seem to have been his reliability for his writer friend, but the film suddenly and somewhat inexplicably blows up that friendship and escalates the sudden conflict with some needless brutality. The film seems to be a lot about how drinking excessively can lead to one bad decision after another. It never seems like what Barney does comes from some need he can communicate to us; it's just the alcohol talking. Finally, it's true that Hoffman is good in the film--but that's hardly enough to make it worth seeing. I was incredibly disappointed in this movie.

firstly why would any woman want to be with a man so obnoxious in every way? lets face it he is not good looking, he is fat, he is repulsive in his manner. and yet he gets three attractive woman, this surely is the ultimate male fantasy film. the guy has nothing going for him, the film has even less going for it, no story, just bits of this boring guy's boring life. this is not edgy or subversive or real, it is just plain nasty. even the one half decent character Blair is a bore, boring us on vegan living, comparing meat eaters to segregationists, all in all almost two hours of nothingness in terms of plot or emotion but plenty of horrible people. avoid like the plague

Watched it in a early screening in Toronto, and I was shocked! I didn't expect such an amazing movie. Will remember it for the rest of my life. Ignore the comments by Jewish ladies who were offended by the movie's contents. Those are just a small part of this masterpiece. The roles are all played well. Paul Giamatti's role is nothing short of Oscar-winning in my opinion. The story is fun, but serious. The scenes are high-quality and well designed. I really didn't see anything missing. Just one point, DO NOT watch the trailers. They completely spoil the movie. I think the main reason I loved the movie was that I did not know anything about it. But for those who have read the book, it should still be fun. It's a well-made movie, on top of a wonderful story.

This was a beautiful, fascinating film about a very anti-social character Barney Panofsky. It starts out in Rome in the 1970's and spans a period of thirty years. The film is part murder mystery, love story, and lastly a memoir of a Jewish Canandian television producer, unlikable but never predictable. Paul Giametti gave an Oscar worthy performance as this complex character. He actually makes you care about Barney. Rosamind Pike, as Barney's third wife is wonderful, as is Minnie Driver as the overbearing, Jewish 2nd wife. Dustin Hoffman is Barney's dad and he captures the qualities of an earthy retired cup from the touch neighbors of Montreal. Scott Speedman does a wonderful job as Barney's drug addict best friend. 'Barney's Version' is based on the novel by Mordecai Richler. a very famous Jewish novelist. To see our full review please go to Two Jews On Film. We give this film a high bagel rating

It was painful to sit through this tedious, unpleasant film about tedious, unpleasant people. In spite of a stellar cast, this interminable soap opera is boring and illogical. The jokes are lame, and the emotional scenes are embarrassing and self indulgent. The rambling plot - if you can call it that - is a hodgepodge of True Romance and bad Detective Fiction. It also manages to be offensive. There are two Jewish wives in this piece. The first one is cruel and psychotic; the second is vulgar and abrasive. These caricatures continue a tradition of ugly stereotypes that we've suffered through a thousand times. What a disappointment. The most enjoyable thing about this fiasco is the Leonard Cohen music. Stay home and listen to the CD.