Actor Stanley Tucci (BIG NIGHT) has directed four films and this is his best thus far. Based on a true story, Tucci plays NEW YORKER staff writer Joe Mitchell, who during the 1940s wrote profiles of people living in New York City. One day he meets Joe Gould (Ian Holm, THE SWEET HEREAFTER), an eccentric bohemian, who is always asking people for contributions to the “Joe Gould Fund.” He’s been writing the oral history of New York for years, claiming to have written down the overheard conversations of the average citizen.
Mitchell decides to write about Gould, who is a tortured soul that swings from moments of brilliance to raging fits of anger. He’s Greenwich Village’s beloved mad genius. He has many benefactors including poet e.e. cummings, painter Alice Neel (Susan Sarandon, DEAD MAN WALKING) and art dealer Vivian Marquie (Patricia Clarkson, PIECES OF APRIL).
The film on the surface chronicles the flashy and bizarre behavior of Joe Gould, but it’s really about the eccentric writer’s affect on Mitchell. For all intents and purposes, Mitchell is doing the same thing as Gould, collecting the stories of the citizens of New York City. Mitchell is a quiet man, who has fled North Carolina and the tobacco fields to become a writer to the objection of his father.
However, having left the South, he did not leave behind his Southern manners. He has a difficult time expressing, or even dealing, with his feelings, like he’s watching life from afar. He identifies with the downtrodden man, but tries to put himself above them at the same time. He’s a sad man, who puts on a fake smile and hopes people won’t notice.
Holm has the flashy rememberable role as the crazy writer, but Tucci gives a subtle, beguiling performance that is unlike any other character he has ever played. Both Holm and Tucci lose themselves in their characters, giving their best performances ever. There are two tortured artists in this film — one is obvious and the other is not. This somber ode peeks into the lives of two wordsmiths, whose need to write drives their lives for the good and for the bad. As Mitchell discovers this himself, Joe Gould’s secret becomes his as well.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
