| Joe Gould's Secret |
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| Rating: Mixed Distributor: USA Films MPAA Rating: R Running Length: 1 hour, 50 minutes Genre: Drama Release Date: April 7th, 2000 (limited) Director: Stanley Tucci Cast: Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Hope Davis, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Tovatt, Alice Drummond, and Steve Martin. |
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| 1/2 |
| Plot: In the 1940's Joe Mitchell (Stanley Tucci) is a writer for The New Yorker. He decides to do a report on Joe Gould (Ian Holm). Joe Gould is a wandering homeless man, who is manic (we're not told so, but you can assume as much), disturbed, but fiery and interesting. He is a sort of philosopher who enchants everyone around him. He spends his days writing the Oral History of the World, in which he discusses random things with random people and writes it down. He has been writing the Oral History for decades. Joe Mitchell is also a little taken by Gould, but suspects he might be a fraud. We get ample proof for that theory, especially as the movie moves on. They become friends even after Mitchell has finished writing the article on Gould. |
| Critique: Joe Gould's secret starts off warm and fresh, but becomes overlong and tedious. The acting is very good, as is the art direction. Ian Holm delivers quite a performance as the deeply disturbed Gould. The 1940's are captured brilliantly, and many critics have noticed that is the film's strongest aspect. One big flaw with the film is that it glorifies Joe Gould who has no redeeming characteristics. He is a con man, who is disturbed, and disgusting. His secret at the end is not even a secret! I could easily figure it out, as I'm sure most people who have seen this did. It was more of a denial on Mitchell's character to not face the obvious evidence. There are some funny moments in 'Secret,' that gives it some extra spark. They are not belly laughs, but just slight chuckles. The acting, directing, and all other technical aspects are the film are solid. However, the script is dry, unevenly paced, overlong and sometimes annoying. Also, although Tucci's acting is alright, he often over acts. The ending scenes are especially over acted, as is his silly southern accent. Tucci, who also directed it does a better job technically, and helps make the film a little less pretentious that it could have been. In conclusion, I would not recommend this film. It has its moments, but is ultimately too slow, and fails to reward us for our time. Technically the film is very good, and the acting is above average. Holm is terrific, and Tucci does fine, even if he is dwarfed by Holm. The good qualities of this film were not enough, and so it became tedious. review by supernothingman |