FILM REVIEW: The Great Buck Howard
The Great Buck Howard
I liked this film, but I give it a 3.5 out of 5 rating. Actor John Malkavich was great in the lead role, as a nearly washed out ‘vaudeville-type” magician turned Mentalist-entertainer of the Common People. Broadway Danny Rose (Woody Allen) could have been Howard’s agent maybe was his agent at one time in his life because the character is based on a real guy). Colin Hanks plays his assistant very well. But I think the overall message they wanted to convey was diluted by their overemphasis on some trivial set-up, allowing less time for the great pay-offs that are near the last parts of the film. So I think the intentions of the writers and filmmakers outweighed their actual filmmaking reality. The writers and filmmakers couldn’t agree if it was a film about Buck Howard or his assistant. Something seemed false in this. The dynamics cancelled each other out.
I experienced a bit of a cat and mouse between like and dislike constantly in the film. The guy is a purely narcistic creep, but also loves to entertain the common uneducated folks. He works hard to please his audiences and the sense of awe and wonder he hopes to instill in his audience is real and genuine (it seems). And the Hank’s character who plays his assistant appears too passive to really root for in this film. He just takes everything in and does very little outside of talking about his conflicts—no emotional arch.
This idea of communicating awe and magic to people is Buck’s desire, and is what is important about seeing this film. But there are some great scenes in this movie and they will remind us puppeteers of the need in everyone to experience this awe and magic in their lives… even in our own lives… although this movie didn’t do it for me.
