The Extra Man (2010)

1.5

COMEDY/DRAMA

U.S. Release Date: 07/30/10

Running Length: 107 Minutes

MPAA Classification: R (Sexual Content)

Cast: Paul Dano, Kevin Kline, Katie Holmes, John C. Reilly

Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Screenplay: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini, Jonathan Ames, based on the novel by Jonathan Ames

Cinematography: Terry Stacey

Music: Klaus Badelt

U.S. Distributor: Magnolia Pictures

Review by: Carter Moulton

06/23/10

Call it Paul Dano overload. There are many similarities between The Extra Man and The Good Heart—too many. In The Good Heart, which I screened yesterday, Paul Dano stars as Lucas; In The Extra Man, Paul Dano stars as Louis. The Good Heart examines the relationship between Dano’s character and a wacky old man; The Extra Man examines the relationship between Dano’s character and a wacky old man. In The Good Heart, this wacky old man loathes women and freezes his money in the icebox to keep it safe. In The Extra Man, the wacky old man is “against the education of women” and freezes his ex-roommate’s mail in the icebox to keep it safe. Both films, I found, are or were distributed by Magnolia Pictures. And, the most important similarity I observed: both films ultimately fail as entertaining motion pictures.

Henry Harrison is the name of the crazy old coot in The Extra Man, and much of the movie’s runtime consists of Paul Dano reacting to his antics. Kevin Kline plays Henry, a failed playwright who works as an “extra man,” a nonsexual escorter of rich elderly women. Kline infuses him with a healthy amount of kookiness, but the character coasts along the narrative without having anything of substance to do. He has no real conflict—save a downplayed car crash and a slight financial issue. Harrison is much more interesting than Louis, the stuttering main protagonist, and it would’ve been interesting to see him more involved in the dramatic side of things.

The Extra Man Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor, The Nanny Diaries) also adapted the film’s screenplay with the help of novelist Jonathan Ames, which features oddball banter too thick to cut through—one-liners like, “Don’t be such a milktoast.” Louis, an aspiring writer, moves into Henry's dump-of-an apartment in New York City. Louis finds himself under Henry’s eccentric wing as he works to find his footing, both socially and mentally; he never finds either foot.

Photo © Magnolia Pictures

Katie Holmes and John C. Reilly act as superfluous supporting characters. Holmes, who’s constantly too energetic, is Dano’s love interest, Mary; Reilly lives in Harrison’s apartment complex as Gershon, a caveman-looking mechanic. Reilly gives Gershon a voice that competes in pitch with Mickey Mouse, and it doesn’t really work; however, the most effective scene in the film features Gershon on a white beach, singing—in a low, operatic voice—as Harrison and Louis dance in the sand.

The film is at its core is a comedy, but the material is very hit-or-miss. When it hits, it’s a foul ball; when it misses, it’s a strikeout. One such swing-and-a-miss features Gershon telling a joke about the word “bissextile,” a synonym for “leap year.”

There are a few editing problems throughout, notably ones of audio synchronization. The film features the topic of transsexuality, but no political argument is made; instead, it is used as a plot device that leads down a dead-ended road. The inclusion of a transsexual argument would have beefed up the film's relevance, but, alas, we get no such argument.

When reflecting on life, often before falling asleep, Henry says to himself, “So there we are; where are we?”

To this question, I’d say, “Wherever you go, there you are,”—a line from The Brady Bunch Movie. Intellectually both films are on the same level, and Henry’s line, which is repeated over and over, seems like an easy way out of a narrative that doesn’t go anywhere. The story’s conclusion, which takes place at a wedding of two characters we don’t really know, leaves us with nothing but this verbal trademark. Where are we? Nowhere near engagement.