Manglehorn (5/10): Pacino and Hunter are great together, but it isn't enough to save the weak script.

"Oh Franny. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you last night. But what am I gonna do, sometimes I get crazy."

Manglehorn is director David Gordon Green's latest feature film; a character study of a locksmith who lives isolated and in regret over a past love that he let get away. I was a fan of the only two other Green films I had seen: Joe and Pineapple Express, and Manglehorn is more similar in style to Joe in its naturalistic approach, but it also combines it with poetic imagery. The relationship dynamics didn't work as well as they did in Joe, but Al Pacino delivers a solid and surprisingly restrained performance in the lead role that almost makes the film worth recommending. However there are several issues with the screenplay and with some of the characters introduced in the story. The film doesn't do a good job at exploring Manglehorn's relationship with his son or with a former baseball player who he coached in High School. These characters are introduced in the film to act as a filler, but they didn't add anything to the story which is at its best when it focuses on Al Pacino and his relationship with either his cat or the bank teller played by Holly Hunter. The scenes the two shared together were the highlight of the film which made me wish it would've centered exclusively around that relationship and ignored the scenes with his son and the quirky character played by Harmony Korine who overacted every scene he was in. The scenes with Korine felt surreal at times and the visual style during those scenes seemed to come right out from one of his movies. Those scenes never connected with me and took me out of the story. The screenplay is a bit overloaded with symbolic imagery and it is a bit heavy-handed. 

Al Pacino delivers an understated performance as Manglehorn which is very rare coming from him. He's an eccentric man who can't seem to let go of his past. He spends his free time writing to his long lost love, and every time he sends the letters they are returned unopened. He also has a poor relationship with his successful son, Jacob (Chris Messina), who he rarely talks to. Jacob has a beautiful daughter, Kylie (Skylar Gasper), who Manglehorn likes to spend time with, but that is about their only common interest. One night while gambling in a small local town casino he runs into Gary (Harmony Korine), one of his former baseball players, who seems to admire his coach. He is loud mouthed and Manglehorn doesn't seem too pleased to listen to his admiration for him. He'd like to go on with his life unnoticed and in the tranquility of his home with his cat who he enjoys talking to (I kept on expecting the cat to talk back to him like in The Voices with Ryan Reynolds). His other weekly routine is going to the bank on Fridays and starting a friendly conversation with Dawn (Holly Hunter), the sweet bank teller. The two form a nice bond and begin hanging out, but Manglehorn is so obsessed by his past love that he shuts everyone else out at times. His and Dawn's relationship is the heart of the film and everything else is left undeveloped.

It is a shame that Al Pacino and Holly Hunter weren't given stronger material to work here because the two shined together on screen. The depressing tone of the film was a bit of a downer, but it does end on a stronger note thanks in most part because they finally focus on the relationship between the two of them. I think that Al Pacino's strong screen presence also made the film more bearable because at times the screenplay did push my patience with some of the strange scenes involving Korine's character. This is a film about regret and trying to move on in life and when it focuses on those issues it is at its best thanks to Pacino's commanding presence. This is by far my least favorite Green film of the three I've seen now, but I've heard his comedy efforts after Pineapple Express weren't very good so I've stayed away from Your Highness and The Sitter. I am still looking forward to catching up with Prince Avalanche, which seems pretty much like a film I'd enjoy. There are elements in Manglehorn that I enjoyed, especially the final act and the scenes between Pacino and Hunter, but there were too many flaws I couldn't ignore.   

My Review: Joe (8/10)

"You pretend to be asleep, but I know you'd cry if I said the wrong thing."

Joe is a powerful and emotional drama that despite being slow grips you thanks to an intense realism and some excellent performances. Many have compared this to last year's MUD perhaps because teenager Tye Sheridan is in both films and they happen to take place in southern America dealing with some trashy characters. I really felt this film was more similar to Jennifer Lawrence's Winter's Bone in mood and tone, since MUD had an underlying romantic theme which this film lacks and you have two young characters that have to face great obstacles in order to sustain their families. With his performance in Joe, Tye Sheridan, has acquired quite an impressive resume despite his young age adding this performance to his work in MUD and The Tree of Life. As the title suggests however, the film benefits from a great lead performance from Cage who plays Joe, a man with a troubled past who gets a chance at redemption when he meets this young kid and becomes a sort of role model for him. This is one of Nicolas Cage's top 5 performances and a return to form for the actor that I grew up loving in the 90's. Perhaps my favorite performance in the film comes from newcomer, Gary Poulter, who plays the abusive alcoholic father. I can't think of a more horrifying villain than the character he portrays in Joe. Director, David Gordon Green, has also had a return to form after his disappointing turns in the comedies The Sitter and Your Highness. He is a very versatile director who received a lot of critical acclaim from his early small indies, George Washington and All the Real Girls, and then he also had success with his first stoner comedy, Pineapple Express. You would never imagine Joe was directed by the same person considering this is such a dark emotional drama.

Joe takes place in the wild South lands of Mississippi where we meet Joe Ransom (Nicolas Cage), an ex-con and heavy drinker who is trying to lay low working as a lumberjack. His life takes a turn when he meets a young 15 year old named Gary (Tye Sheridan) who comes to him looking for a job. Gary is the oldest son of a homeless family who suffers abuse from his alcoholic father, Wade (Gary Poulter). Wade spends all the money in booze and beats Gary on a regular basis. Joe's protective instincts come to play when he takes a liking for Joe who he tries to help. Despite having a lot of friends in the small local town, Joe also has made some enemies due to his heavy drinking and constant trouble with the law, and despite how much he tries to restrain himself from hurting others, seeing Gary being constantly abused awakens his anger towards his abusive father.

The characters in this film have a lot of depth and the realism with which they are portrayed by the actors is shocking at times. Sheridan gives a similar performance as that of Lawrence in Winter's Bone, Nicolas Cage is outstanding as well in his restrained role, and Poulter is so terrifying that he makes everyone's father look like a saint. The film has a haunting atmosphere and the drama is so rich that it is hard to remain emotionally detached to the story. It is a powerful and honest drama, one of the best from 2014. It's one of those rare emotional character studies that doesn't feel manipulative and never hits a false note. Cage reminds us why he was such a success in the past and I'm glad to see him back in form after a terrible batch of films.