Once, twice, three times a lady.

Or:  Three Weddings and No Funeral

It may be either in spite of or because of his status as Hollywood's most loveable curmudgeon that Paul Giamatti has turned into a bit of a national treasure.  While movie everymen throughout the years--whether it be Jimmy Stewart or Jack Lemmon or Tom Hanks--have displayed the ideal that exists within all of us, the externalizing of the leading men we all think we might be, Giamatti shows us the flaws we all actually have.  He often aims for melancholy before gregariousness.  He's a bit schlubby and walks too hunchbacked.  His characters don't always treat women well, but in their heart of hearts they certainly mean to, though weakness and selfishness often get in the way.


In a word, he's Barney--Panofsky, that is, in Richard J. Lewis's Barney's Version, adapated from Mordecai Richler's novel of the same name.  The movie starts near the end and cycles back as we first see an aged Barney, worn and weathered through time, hitting some of the Montreal spots with which we'll eventually become familiar.  We also quickly learn things about Barney that will come into focus as the movies flashes back: a child (at least one), a divorce (again, at least one), and a death for which he was suspected of murder but was never charged (thankfully only one).

Giamatti and Hoffman

Though the character is entirely fictitious, the movie follows your basic biopic structure--slightly episodic, hitting all the highlights of Barney's life, no real arc.  And it sure is one hell of a sprawl as the movies covers approximately four decades of his life.  Naturally with that you get a handful of memorable supporting characters, all gleefully performed by game actors.  There's Scott Speedman as Boogie, Barney's closest friend--failed novelist, successful wooer of women.  Minnie Driver as his second wife, sexy and shrill all wrapped up in one.  Dustin Hoffman (there's another everyman for you) as Izzy, his father--formerly a cop, currently an old horndog.

And then there's Rosamund Pike as Miriam, his third wife, whom he meets and with whom promptly falls in love at his second wedding. They meet briefly at the reception.  She tells him where the Monte Cristo cigar gets its name (yes, it is a literary reference) and that she doesn't follow hockey, but knows enough because she reads the paper.  He tells her he runs a TV company called Totally Unnecessary Productions.  To misappropriate a line from Izzy to Barney:  "Many successful marriages have been built on far less."

Pike as Miriam

It may seem a stretch that Barney would attempt to leave his wife at their own wedding for a woman he's never met, but when Miriam is that girl (and, my God, when Pike is that actress), you get it (I did).  And it may seem a stretch that a girl as seemingly well-to-do, smart, and beautiful as Miriam would fall for a slouchy, marginally successful TV producer, but when it's Barney, you kind of get it too.  And despite the issues with the script--the movie's a bit too long and hits all the predetermined notes--you're pulled along by the two of them and their relationship.  If the movie itself doesn't exactly earn the warmth you're supposed to give to them, the actors earn it themselves.

Barney's Version (Richard J. Lewis, 134 m)