Barney Panofsky is nothing if not vitally alive. The hero of “Barney’s Version,” which opens today, is a man of large appetites, and of great ability to satisfy them. Paul Giamatti, flanked by Dustin Hoffman pere and fils as his father and son, offers a portrayal in which he is a whirlwind, and very funny, in a film that is too long, but mostly very enjoyable.
“Barney’s Version” is the last novel by Mordecai Richler (1931-2001), the Canadian-Jewish writer who also wrote “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” which became a 1974 film in which Richard Dreyfuss was an impeccable Duddy. Since Richler is responsible for both books, it’s easy to see where things begin.
Barney is a man easily bored, by his job as a producer of shlock TV for his Totally Unnecessary Productions, and also by the state of marriage, which he investigates several times. A brilliant moment comes at the reception following his second marriage, this one to Minnie Driver, at which he sees Miriam (Rosamund Pike), and chases her to the Montreal train station, where she is leaving for New York. She’s reading Saul Bellow’s “Herzog,” which rolls into the literary landscape. Richler, by the way, wrote about the Jews of Montreal the way Philip Roth wrote of those from New Jersey and Bellow dealt with those from Chicago. Barney could easily have been created by Bellow.
Oddly, Driver never gets a name, but she has some splendid scenes, including one when Barney catches her in bed with his best friend, Boogie (Scott Speedman). Deciding that offense is better than defense, she’s terrific. That marriage does not last and Barney finally convinces the beauteous Pike to marry him. Eventually, but he again loses out, this time to an ultimate wasp and perfectly nice guy named Blair, a dull, in-shape vegan who is everything Barney is not, but nevertheless ends up with Pike.
This information does not destroy the story line, which jumps around in time and space.
Meanwhile, some of the best parts of the movie deal with the interaction between Barney and his father, Izzy, a Montreal detective. Hoffman is wonderful, and he and Giamatti are glorious together. Director Richard J. Lewis rounds things out with Hoffman’s son, Jake, who plays Giamatti’s son, Michael. Lewis peppers the film with Canadian actors in cameo roles, like David Cronenberg, Denys Arcand, record producer Atom Egoyan, David Pryde, Ted Kotcheff, Maury Chaykin–and himself.
“Barney’s Version” also belongs to Richler and to Lewis. Brash and officious, filled with characters who are not always very appealing, it’s a good movie, filled with laughter and, yes, romance. Giamatti won a Golden Globe for his work, but did not even receive a nomination for an Oscar. The film earned one nomination–for best makeup.
Barney’s Version opens today at the Plaza Frontenac
—Joe