FILM: BARNEY’S VERSION
FILM: BARNEY’S VERSION – 2010
My husband claimed that I would LOVE this film and when I had absolutely nothing else to watch, I caught up with it on premium cable.
Since I was told that it was a film about Jewish Montreal, I did approach the film with a bit of an attitude; for me, only New York Jews are the real thing.
I had a lot of trouble relating to Barney. There is absolutely nothing to like about this man. He is unpleasant, self-involved, slovenly, a drinker, a cigar smoker and an obsessive hockey fan. That this mess married three wives is certainly a stretch. We can’t even say that he has a good moral compass. At his lavish Jewish wedding, he glimpses Miriam and decides that SHE is the love of his life. He leaves his own wedding to chase after her. Miriam eventually becomes his third wife. We have no idea of why this beautiful, grounded woman marries the shlubby Barney, but marry they do and they have children together. They stay married for many years.
There is nothing essentially ‘Jewish’ about this story. In fact, whatever is shown of a Jewish environment seems to be shown in a mocking light.
There are good performances here. Paul Giamatti does a great job as the unappealing Barney. Minnie Driver is wonderful as the jilted bride and Dustin Hoffman is great as Barney’s ex-cop father. I wasn’t particularly thrilled by Rosamunde Pike’s performance as Miriam. If she was the ideal woman for Barney, I found her too cold to be attractive to anyone.
I would like to read Richler’s novel and see if there is something there that the screenwriter and director Richard J. Lewis lost in translation.
