Michelle SweeneyReview - Nobel Son
April 20th 2009 13:12
Alan Rickman forever won me over with his performance in Truly Madly Deeply in 1990 although to many newcomers to film, he will be forever immortalised as Professor Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series. Always a strong performer, he doesn't fail with his performance of Eli Michaelson, the Nobel winner to which the title refers. He is a rude, self absorbed egomaniac with no time for anyone else other than the lovers to which he seems to collect with ease. His long suffering wife Sarah (Mary Steenburgen) is a forensic scientist and somehow manages to put up with his antics. The Nobel winner's son is Barkley (Bryan Greenberg), always and forever a disappointment particularly in lieu of his Gameboy addiction and his particular fondness for cannabalism upon which his thesis is based.
There are some nicely written supporting roles throughout this movie (even Ted Danson makes a small appearance) and I particularly enjoyed Danny DeVito as the Michaelson's neighbour George Gastner.
The actors manage to hold it together although at times the seriousness of the actors conflict with the comical scenarios played out. The overconfusion of genres also didn't fit well with me.
It is interesting to note that three of the actors mentioned also appear in Miller's 2008 release of Bottle Shock (Eliza Dushku, Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman). Steenburgen and DeVito also appeared in Miller's 2005 release of Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School.
And so the story goes..."there is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead (Michel De Montaigne)."
Voyage Review: 3/5
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