On DVD : Meet Bill It may be time to lobby for a new section in video retail – a small area to be shoved between “horror” and “romance” - “male midlife crisis movies.” These could include everything from Father of the Bride and American Beauty to lesser-known films like Nicholas Cage’s The Weatherman and – the reason for this sudden inspiration – Meet Bill.
Aaron Eckhart is Bill, first seen as the film opens battling a depressing inner-monologue while fixing his hair in a bathroom mirror. The set-up is clear in seconds: Bill is living a life propped up by his in-laws and despises himself for it. So the question becomes: When life is propped up by in-laws, what happens when your marriage falls apart?
The material has been done before but Meet Bill makes the story work with strong performances. Eckhart carries the film, cultivating a character that is equal parts awkward and self-esteem-less. Elizabeth Banks – an actress becoming more notable by the day – turns in a great performance as Bill’s snobby wife-of-privilege. And even the smaller parts in the film are filled by experienced character players including the always clever Holmes Osborne, Craig Bierko and Todd Louiso.
Meet Bill is successful as a script by connecting with insecure guy issues – interesting and impressive considering it was written and directed by a woman - Melisa Wallack. Meet Bill is Wallack's first fully-realized script, but she is now in talks to have another script be produced with Brad Pitt as the lead - so her time as an unknown may be limited.
Aaron Eckhart is Bill, first seen as the film opens battling a depressing inner-monologue while fixing his hair in a bathroom mirror. The set-up is clear in seconds: Bill is living a life propped up by his in-laws and despises himself for it. So the question becomes: When life is propped up by in-laws, what happens when your marriage falls apart?
The material has been done before but Meet Bill makes the story work with strong performances. Eckhart carries the film, cultivating a character that is equal parts awkward and self-esteem-less. Elizabeth Banks – an actress becoming more notable by the day – turns in a great performance as Bill’s snobby wife-of-privilege. And even the smaller parts in the film are filled by experienced character players including the always clever Holmes Osborne, Craig Bierko and Todd Louiso.
Meet Bill is successful as a script by connecting with insecure guy issues – interesting and impressive considering it was written and directed by a woman - Melisa Wallack. Meet Bill is Wallack's first fully-realized script, but she is now in talks to have another script be produced with Brad Pitt as the lead - so her time as an unknown may be limited.
While ultimately the conclusion and messages of Meet Bill are a little dissapointing - and the film itself is wheighed-down by Jessica Alba's gratuitous character who seems worked into the movie simply for sex appeal - it is a fun, darkly comic movie that promises good things should be on the horizon from Wallack.
No comments:
Post a Comment