'The Great Buck Howard'

posted by Jett Loe

The Great Buck Howard / Featuring John Malkovich – Colin Hanks – Emily Blunt / Written and Directed by Sean McGinly

Look at John Malkovich. You can’t take your eyes off him.  He’s got it.

Malkovich is a compelling, magnetic performer.  He’s the reason to see ‘The Great Buck Howard’.  Unfortunately he’s not the focus of the story – the young man below is.

And that’s the right choice for this movie.

It wasn’t the story I wanted to see – I wanted to see the story of washed up, down and out mentalist Buck Howard as he toured the back water venues of forgotten fly-over America.

But ‘The Great Buck Howard’ is about something different – the journey of the young man, played appropriately by the son of a movie star, who’s really not that special, and spends some formative time, (we don’t know how long – the film is kinda wishy-washy that way), learning who he is and what he wants.

‘The Great Buck Howard’ Synopsis

It’s not a great movie, perhaps not even a good one in the traditional sense, (the story is tired and without real bite – imagine what Altman would have done with it!), but I think it’s the film the makers wanted to do – and in that sense it succeeds.  It’s light, a trifle and forgettable – an amiable way to pass the time.

And if you’re in the mood for Malkovich – it’s just the ticket for you.

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‘The Great Buck Howard’ will be at the Belcourt Cinema in Nashville from Friday, March 27th

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If you want something in a similar vein, but with more vim and vigor, I recommend ‘My Favorite Year’ – another story of a young man tasked with looking over a prickly, tart male prima donna, (memorable played by Peter O’Toole who recieved an Acadamy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his efforts).  It’s available right now on Netflix’s Watch Instantly.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 7:17 pm. It is filed under Belcourt Theatre, Blog, Character Actors, Comedies, Drama, Jett Loe, Jett Loe Reviews, Nashville, Reviews, Stars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.