Fascinating exploration of what it really takes to be an artist — pitching the aggressively intellectual yet artistically hollow Henry against the painfully reserved closet poet Simon. The two draw out the best in each other: Henry bullies Simon into opening up and committing his strong thoughts to paper, while Simon helps Henry focus his frustrated volatility into the role of the teacher. But of course… a man as pretentious as Henry has no desire for this role and much of the film’s pleasure derives from his increasingly desperate attempts to convince those around him that he is a tormented genius. When Henry is finally rebuked by the publishers (who love Simon’s work), his self-delusion reaches an inevitable low: “The world is simply not ready for men like us Simon.”
This is a Hal Hartley film though — for those uninitiated, imagine if Wes Anderson forgot to take his precious pills one morning and opted for some crack instead. A lot of bizarre behavior, dialogue that walks the line between charmingly offbeat and just plain clumsy. An acquired taste, and perhaps not the style that this material calls for. That said, this is Hartley’s most ambitious work to date and is always a strong, unique study about our obsession with the remarkable.
Rating 8/10
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