"The Extra Man" and "Get Low"

"The Extra Man" - Independent low-budget films are often marked by their (and I've really come to hate this word) "quirkiness." Sometimes it's natural, a part of a great movie's fabric. Other times it ends up being a tool to mask how weak the story and characters are, and the more regularly I see this the more I hate the word. Based on the novel by Jonathan Ames ("Bored to Death"), "The Extra Man" isn't quirky. It's genuinely strange. By the three minute mark we learn that Louis Ives (Paul Dano, "There Will Be Blood") is a man who typically imagines himself living in the 1920s while secretly desiring to wear women's undergarments. It's a testament to Dano that knowing essentially only these two things about the character, we still feel like he's a regular guy.
Louis certainly seems normal when compared to his new Manhattan roommate, Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline). Henry dresses and behaves as though he is someone who might be better suited living in the world that Louis so often imagines. That said, Henry's old fashioned and unabashed views ("Princeton was great once. And then they let women in.") shock Louis. Henry forbids Louis bringing women over to the apartment, stating that, "I think you'll find I'm to the right of the Pope on those issues." Louis is fascinated by Henry and the two bond over a night cleverly sneaking into the opera.
Henry doesn't want to reveal much of himself to anyone, certainly not Louis, but he can't help but explain to the young man that he is an escort for older women, typically very wealthy ones. Not a male prostitute, but an escort. Someone to appear at functions and eat fancy and sometimes not so fancy dinners with. Taken with the idea of being this sort of gentleman, Louis wants to do what Henry does, even as he still harbors the strong desire to dress like a woman. This makes his budding friendship with his new co-worker Mary (Katie Holmes) decidedly difficult for him to navigate. But Louis doesn't really have an easy time figuring anything out anyway.
Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, "The Extra Man" is the very strange story of a man, who despite so many factors, isn't such a strange guy after all. Dano does a wonderful job showing Louis as a young man still trying to figure out who he is and where he fits into the world. Even if it's with friends such as Henry and Gershon (John C. Reilly as a man with...ya know what, I don't want to spoil it for you), Louis seems to be figuring out who he is.
Being primarily a stage actor these days, Kline's film performances are not exactly bountiful these days, but they are always welcome. His performance in "A Fish Called Wanda" is bar none, my favorite of all-time. While I can't imagine him ever topping it, he does give a terrific performance here. He is funny and bizarre to be sure, but he doesn't give Henry away all at once. He is as fascinating to us as he is to Louis because despite being so set in his ways and his world view, he is constantly surprising. This would have been a very easy character to get wrong and I have a hard time believing anybody but Kline could have pulled it off as well.
Strange in a wonderful way, "The Extra Man" is definitely worth seeking out. In the Seattle area it is currently playing at the Metro. This won't get a wide release so check out the art house theaters in your area for this one. 8/10.

"Get Low" - The opening image of this new film from Aaron Schneider is so striking that we are absorbed before we meet one character. The only thing more powerful than this image is the personality of Felix Bush (Robert Duvall), a hermit in Depression-era Tennessee. Living in a shack he built himself on a massive plot of land, Felix is known about by everyone within several nearby counties. No one actually knows him but they know the stories. Whenever he does meet someone he demands their stories. Nobody seems to want to say no.
Knowing he is nearing the end of his life, Felix decides that while he's still alive he wants to throw a party. A funeral party. He wants to invite everyone who has a story about him so that they can tell them. Needing assistance with setting this up but not knowing when to turn when the local pastor (Gerald McRaney) is simply baffled by the request, Felix finds help on his doorstep.
Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black, "Jarhead") is the new salesman for Frank Quinn (Bill Murray). Quinn, concerned that his business is ironically about to go under due to the lack of local deaths, enlists longtime assistant Buddy to sell Felix on the idea of letting Quinn Funeral Home put the party together. Buddy's inherent goodness wins Felix over, while Felix's one of a kind personality charms the young man, making him care that much more about doing this right.
As Quinn and Buddy begin to advertise Felix's party, Felix shows more of himself to them, which actually creates an even greater mystery about the man who's locked himself away from the world for the past 40 years. Along the way Felix re-connects with one of the few people who knew him long ago, Mattie (Sissy Spacek).
Written by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, "Get Low" is an excellent study of a man who desperately needs to talk about what has eaten him from the inside out over the past four decades, but isn't sure that he can. It's not overstating to say that Duvall is extraordinary. The best and worst in Felix are constantly at work, his internal struggle felt every moment he's on screen. Murray meanwhile, is great in his understated role as the slightly greasy but ultimately decent funeral home owner. Black is wonderful as Buddy, a man with such a big heart that Felix feels, "For every one like me there must be one like you."
"Get Low" is a film that keeps us absorbed thanks to its outstanding characterizations and the way that it builds to the truth about what Felix has been hiding away from all this time. Deeply moving with the right touch of humor, this is a film that I highly recommend. In Seattle it's currently playing at the Guild 45th. 9.5/10.