Barney's Version
2010
***
Director: Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman, Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Greenwood, Anna Hopkins, Mark Addy
Just when his memory is starting to go, Barney Panofsky, a Jewish-Canadian TV producer, reminisces about his three marriages and his best friend's mysterious disappearance years ago. Richard J. Lewis' adaptation of Mordecai Richler's final novel provides good old-fashioned storytelling. This is a long, sprawling, and mostly compelling drama, which struggles to explain why all these beautiful women are attracted to this unpleasant and unattractive man, and why we should care about any of it? In any case, Paul Giamatti gives another excellent performance in the title role.
