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Barney's Version (film)

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Barney's Version
Film poster
Directed byRichard J. Lewis
Screenplay byMichael Konyves
Starring
CinematographyGuy Dufaux
Edited bySusan Shipton
Distributed byEntertainment One
Release dates
  • September 10, 2010 (2010-09-10) (Venice)
  • December 24, 2010 (2010-12-24) (Canada)
Running time
134 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$8,454,301[1]

Barney's Version is a 2010 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Richard J. Lewis, based on the novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler.[2] The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[3][4]

Plot

Barney Panofsky is living with his best friend Boogie (Speedman) in Rome. After she tells him she is pregnant with his child, he marries the mentally disturbed and unfaithful Clara Charnofsky (Lefevre). Barney later finds out the child is not his, and he demands they separate. Clara commits suicide, and a devastated Barney decides to return home to Montreal.

Barney soon gets a job back home and meets what becomes his nameless second wife (Driver), the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family. At their lavish wedding, Barney meets Miriam Grant (Pike), and immediately falls in love. He tells Miriam his feelings for her that night but she rejects him. Despite his marriage, Barney sends Miriam flowers and gifts. Barney later picks up Boogie, who is in the middle of detox therapy, for a few days at Barney's lake house. He eventually finds Boogie sleeping with his wife. Barney is at first overjoyed that he has an excuse to divorce her and pursue Miriam, but questions Boogie's integrity. The two argue, firing rounds from Barney's gun into the air before Barney collapses onto his dock and passes out, and a drunk Boogie falls back into the lake. When Barney awakens, it appears that he has shot Boogie. An abusive detective (Mark Addy) tries to beat a confession out of Barney until Barney's father, Izzy (Hoffman), intervenes. Barney is let go when they cannot find a body. Barney continues to believe that Boogie ran away and throughout the movie waits for him to reappear.

With his divorce finalized, Barney asks Miriam out on a date. He travels to New York City to meet her, and they finally begin a relationship. They marry and have two children as Barney gets a job producing a television series. Izzy later dies in a brothel, causing Barney to laugh and cry and call his father a "King". Barney and Miriam live happily until, on another vacation to the lake house, Barney meets Blair (Bruce Greenwood), who is trying to get a job in Miriam's line of work. Both Blair and Miriam travel to the city to try and use Miriam's contacts. Barney gets drunk at a bar and ends up sleeping with a former actress on his show. Miriam finds out about her husband's infidelity and the two divorce. Miriam later marries Blair, which further deteriorates Barney.

Boogie's body is discovered in the mountains near the lake house, apparently with dead from injuries similar to a sky diving accident. He begins to show signs of dementia, which causes his daughter to look after him. Barney realizes he is losing his memory and begs Miriam to agree to be buried next to him while they lunch at their favorite restaurant. She agrees to think about it, and begins to cry in the restroom. When she returns to the table, Barney is gone. She finds him wandering, where he begins to ramble about their life together. Barney's condition worsens until his death. When his children are helping settle some of his affairs at the lake house, they observe a "water bomber" plane scoop up water from the lake, including a beach ball and dump it on the mountain side fire—showing the children (and Barney) what happened to Boogie. (He had been scooped up by a water bomber plane by accident and dropped in the mountains. The final scene shows Miriam going to his grave, leaving roses at a tombstone holding both of their names.

Cast

There were also cameos by Canadian directors Atom Egoyan (early director of Barney's soap opera Constable O'Malley of the North), David Cronenberg (later director of Barney's soap), Paul Gross (star in Barney's soap), Denys Arcand (Jean, the maître d' at both of Barney & Miriam's luncheons beside the duck pond at Montreal's Ritz-Carlton), & Ted Kotcheff (train conductor).

Production

After being in development for 12 years, the film was released in September 2010 with Paul Giamatti in the title role. It was directed by Richard J. Lewis and produced by Robert Lantos from a screenplay by Michael Konyves. Filming took place in Montreal, Lake Memphremagog, Rome and New York. Special effects were produced by Modus FX in Montreal.

Reception

Critical reception

Barney's Version has received mostly positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 80% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 125 reviews, with an average score of 6.7/10.[5]

Box office

The film grossed $472,892 in Canada over its first few weeks.[6] As of April 17, 2011, the film had grossed $4,337,300 in the United States and a total of $8 million worldwide. Most of the worldwide box office was in Italy[7]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
Academy Awards[8] February 27, 2011 Best Makeup Adrien Morot Nominated
Genie Awards[9] March 10, 2011 Best Picture Nominated
Best Actor Paul Giamatti Won
Best Actress Rosamund Pike Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Dustin Hoffman Won
Best Supporting Actress Minnie Driver Won
Best Director Richard J. Lewis Nominated
Art Direction/Production Design Claude Paré and Élise de Blois Won
Costume Design Nicoletta Massone Won
Adapted Screenplay Michael Konyves Nominated
Original Score Pasquale Catalano Won
Make-Up Adrien Morot and Micheline Trépanier Won
Golden Globes[10] January 16, 2011 Best Actor - Comedy/Musical Film Paul Giamatti Won
London Film Critics Circle Awards[11] February 10, 2011 Best British Actress Rosamund Pike Nominated
Best British Supporting Actress Minnie Driver Nominated
Satellite Awards[12] December 19, 2010 Best Supporting Rosamund Pike Nominated

References

  1. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=barneysversion.htm
  2. ^ Lacey, Liam (July 28, 2010). "Lantos's version, 13 years later". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "Venezia 67". labiennale.org. July 29, 2010. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  4. ^ MacDonald, Gayle (July 31, 2010). "Barney's Version world premiere to take place in Italy". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  5. ^ "Barney's Version Movie Reviews, Pictures". Flixster. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  6. ^ Kelly, Brendan (January 11, 2011). "Barney's Version booming at the box office". The Gazette. Retrieved January 25, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Barney's Version (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  8. ^ "Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  9. ^ "Villeneuve’s Incendies wins eight Genies, including best picture". The Globe and Mail, March 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Nominations and Winners - 2010". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  11. ^ Ng, Philiana (December 20, 2010). "The King's Speech, Another Year Lead Nominations at London Critics' Circle Film Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
  12. ^ "2010 Nominations" (pdf). International Press Academy. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
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