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Released By: Alchemy (Millennium)
Released On: March 3, 2015.
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Dianne Wiest, Kyra Sedgwick
Year: 2014
The Film:
Stage actor Simon Axler can't seem to get it together. Once praised by critics for his powerful performances, the aging thespian finds his mind slowly wandering, resulting in less than inspirational moments in the spotlight. After experiencing a vivid daydream in which he is locked out of the theatre right before the curtain call, Simon looks out on his obviously unimpressed audience...and gracefully swan-dives into the orchestra pit, more or less forcing himself into retirement from acting.
While a much-deserved rest at his large country estate would appear to be just what the doctor ordered, Simon's paranoid brain works on him around the clock, inspiring him to increasingly reach for the bottle as a means of pacification. When the bottle stops doing what it's supposed to, he reaches for a shotgun, but his short arms and lack of creativity prevent him from ending his life. Instead, he checks himself into the Hammerton Treatment Facility for the 30-day program, determined to get himself in order. Hammerton's program seems to offer Simon a bit of a break from his problems, despite the strange inmate who repeatedly tries to hire Simon to kill her husband, and he's sent back home with a somewhat clean bill of health, only requiring occasional checkins with his doctor via Skype sessions.
Clean living can be boring and difficult for those not accustomed to it, and Simon welcomes a break in the monotony in the form of a random delivery from Pegeen, the daughter of an old actress friend. Now grown up and in the habit of living a rebellious lifestyle, occasionally in the company of other women, Pegeen makes her longtime affection for Simon known when she rapidly comes onto him, quickly taking him to the bedroom to meet her assortment of mechanized rubbery friends. Considering himself to be old and useless, Simon basks in this affection, even though it means incurring the wrath of Pegeen's multiple exes, her very unhappy parents, and Pegeen herself, determined to get only what she wants out of the relationship. As his mind continues to fail and wrap him in confused darkness, Simon blurs the boundaries of reality in an effort to preserve the only things that motivate him to continue living.
The Humbling, based on the novel by Philip Roth, may sound like it has the ability to be incredibly pretentious; and it is. It does have a few things going for it, specifically the casting of Al Pacino, who plays the role seemingly close to the heart, not in the overactive Scent of a Woman manner that could've ruined the film outright. The supporting cast also do well with the material, especially Dianne Wiest in the role of Pegeen's mother. Hell, even Charles Grodin is great in the small amount of time we see him on screen. The situations in the film are very real and transfer tragically to the real world, as anyone who has any experience with dementia or Alzheimer's can attest.
Where the film fails is with Director Barry Levinson, who has apparently chosen to present the film as both a fluffy romantic comedy piece AND a serious piece of drama. While Levinson's decision to present several sequences in the film in a way that mirrors Axler's confusion, which could be argued as a good artistic decision, these serious moments slam headlong into a Woody Allen-type universe of comedic and fast-cutting montage shots with the appropriate bouncy piano movie trailer soundtrack in the background. It could be argued that having too much dark and serious in a film with this subject matter is a bad thing and that comedy is a nice way to offset it, but it's too much of a juxtaposition; when the film cuts to the quirky sequences, it comes off as the work of somebody with no overall focus. By the time the film drags itself to the head-shaking final scenes, there can be no doubt that The Humbling was not time well-spent.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Humbling comes to blu-ray with a solid presentation in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio that looks great. Black levels are nice, detail is crisp, and there are no video issues to speak of. The Dolby True HD 5.1 audio track is more than adequate for the film, with the dialogue-heavy track presenting more front and centre with minimal obvious use of the surrounds.
A short Making Of (3:43) features interviews with the cast and Barry Levinson as they talk about the film and aging.
A promo reel with 5 previews is also included.
The Final Word:
A missed opportunity best describes The Humbling; with such a cast, the potential was definitely there to make an engrossing, serious film. By fluffing it up, Levinson misses the mark almost completely.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
