Review: The Humbling

Al Pacino plays an acclaimed but aging Shakespearean actor who has an embarrassing breakdown on stage. He spends some time in treatment at a facility, but is now out, occasionally Skype-ing with his therapist (Dylan Baker). As he tries to find his way back both mentally and career-wise, entering into his life is the lesbian daughter (Greta Gerwig) of a former colleague (Dianne Wiest). The much younger woman (who has always had a crush on him, despite her sexual preference) turns his already fragile life (and possibly addled brain) upside down, and confuses the hell out of him with her seemingly fluid sexuality, not to mention an ex-girlfriend of Gerwig’s turning up (an amusing Billy Porter), who has undergone gender reassignment surgery to become a man (Named Prince, no less). Dan Hedaya plays Wiest’s husband, Charles Grodin plays Pacino’s agent, and Kyra Sedgewick briefly appears as an even more recent ex-girlfriend of Gerwig’s, who is especially hostile. Oh, and did I mention the mental patient Pacino met in treatment (Nina Arianda) who thinks he made a verbal agreement with her to bump off her husband? Well, there’s that too.

 

Maybe Al Pacino just doesn’t give a shit about making good, theatrically released movies anymore. He’s got the stage, occasional HBO flicks, and his terrible cawwwwfee ads, etc. Maybe ‘ol Al’s cool with just that, and occasionally making a mediocre, direct-to-DVD film here and there as well. However, when you see the names Al Pacino, Barry Levinson (director of “Good Morning, Vietnam”, “Rain Man”, and “Wag the Dog”), Buck Henry (co-creator of “Get Smart”), Charles Grodin, Greta Gerwig, Academy Award winner Dianne Wiest, etc., you kinda expect something at the very least decent. Instead we get…better than “88 Minutes” (Both are from Millennium Films, the latter-day Cannon Films, who obviously have incriminating pictures of a lot of A-list actors). That ain’t good enough, though it’s through absolutely no fault of Al Pacino. This uneven blend of “Birdman” and “Venus” just doesn’t come off, not a cast featuring Olivier, Gielgud, and Meryl Streep would be able to save it. In fact, the now 75 year-old Pacino is the sole thing keeping one awake in this clichéd direct-to-DVD flick from director Levinson and screenwriters Buck Henry (Yes, ‘ol Buck is still alive) and Michal Zebede (who wrote two episodes of “Devious Maids” for the two of you who have seen that show), based on a Phillip Roth novel from 2009 that I’ve heard is actually even worse.

 

An awkward mixture of moving drama and seriously unfunny comedy, it’s another of those ill-advised films that has supposed lesbians having sex with guys, in this case the 32 year-old indie darling Greta Gerwig choosing Septuagenarian Pacino for her…um, turning point. That’s not what really bothered me, however. What bothered me is that you’ve got one of Pacino’s best and quietest (not much ‘Shouty Al’ in this, thankfully) latter-day turns at the service of a film that doesn’t get its balance of drama and comedy right. In fact, the comedy can just fuck right off as far as I’m concerned. Visibly aged and weathered, Pacino’s turn here as an aging Shakespearean actor who may be losing his mental faculties is surprisingly vulnerable and moving. This guy is old, tired, and starting to realise that time has passed and his talent may be slipping away from him as well. I’ve always thought the idea of Pacino as a Shakespearean actor to be incongruous, with his Noo Yawk accent and all. However, in the few scenes of it we get here, he has the gravitas needed, as well as the ability to make it sound like he knows what he’s saying and means what he says, something that a lot of American actors fail at, getting swallowed up by the language. It’s obvious that the film (and presumably the text) meant something to the actor, but as far as I’m concerned, that actor is much worthier than the material.

 

And so are his co-stars, who unfortunately get the worst of it. Greta Gerwig (Whom I’m not normally a fan of. She’s the new Hope Davis, who in turn was at one time the new Parker Posey, AKA the new Ione Skye) has an impossible role to play, but the slightly de-glamourised actress (who still looks lovely if you ask me) is the next best thing to Pacino here. She’s really good, her role completely sucks, and will seriously piss off the LGBT community to boot. Fluid sexuality my arse, whoever was responsible for this character just wanted to turn a lesbian for the sake of Woody Allen-ish dramedy. Dianne Wiest and Kyra Sedgwick get pretty much the worst of it, all they really do is yell at Pacino, and the film has at least one ‘crazy chick’ character too many for comfort. Dan Hedaya is always nice to see, but gets even less depth to his character than Wiest, and Charles Grodin is on screen long enough merely to inform you that he’s your grandfather. Seriously, dude looks old. He is old. I’m not that far from being old myself. Shit. That’s depressing. Wait, where was I? Oh yes. One scene really does sum up the film’s basic problem: Wiest is yelling and Pacino is on animal tranquilisers, slurring his speech. It’s the opposite of funny. In fact, the only amusing thing about the entire film is that Pacino is never sure if he’s hallucinating Gerwig’s oddball behaviour or if her behaviour just sounds crazy when he tells his therapist (a wasted Dylan Baker) about it. It just pisses me off that while all this shrill comedy is going on, a moving drama is right there, untapped. Pacino’s central dramatic turn works, Gerwig swims admirably against a tidal wave, but this script just isn’t any good. It’s unfunny, tone-deaf, clichéd, and forces several of its cast to aim for shrill as a base line.

 

Very disappointing from people who should know much, much better (though now I think of it, Henry co-wrote the script for the disastrous flop “Town & Country” as well). It’s easy to see why this one never went into theatres. If you want a good film featuring a May-December romance from a Roth text, try the underrated and underseen “Elegy”. Barry Levinson, you sir have lost your touch (Then again, he also made “Toys” which was a giant flop. Hmmm, maybe there were warning signs after all).

 

Rating: C-