Barney's Version Released 28 January 2011 Director Richard J. Lewis Starring Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre Writer(s) Michael Konyves Producer(s) Robert Lantos Origin Canada, Italy Running Time 134 minutes Genre Drama Rating 15A

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A bittersweet life.

Is the character actor America’s greatest cultural export?

Big stars come and go but the actors that film fans really take to their hearts are the less attractive, earthier actors. This goes back a long way to the likes of Walt Brennan, through the likes of John Cazale and J.T. Walsh and continues to this day with the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy. Paul Giamatti is another actor who’s been added to this esteemed list in the last decade.

Giamatti built his way up slowly with bit-parts in varied films like Private Parts, The Truman Show and Saving Private Ryan. Then in 2003, he made a major breakthrough when he played the lead in American Splendour and followed this up the following year with Sideways. This made him a leading man but of the Dustin Hoffman kind rather than the Robert Redford type.

He acts for the first time with Hoffman in Barney’s Version, an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Mordecai Richler. Giamatti plays Barney Panofsky, an English-speaking Jewish TV producer from Montreal. Barney is an embittered old man, with three marriages behind him and a drinking problem. He’s also facing public pressure as a former police detective (Mark Addy) has just published a novel accusing him of getting away with murdering his best friend, Bernard ‘Boogie’ Moscovitch (Scott Speedman).

Barney’s “version” is then told in flashback, first to Rome in the Seventies, where Barney lives a bohemian existence with various artists. One of them, Clara, convinces him he’s made her pregnant so he reluctantly agrees to marry her. However the baby is still-born and the marriage ends with Clara’s suicide. Soon after, Barney returns to Montreal where he begins to work for his uncle in TV production. He’s introduced to a rich Jewish socialite (a shrill Minnie Driver) whom he makes his second wife.

However, while at his own wedding he has a chance meeting with Myriam (Rosamund Pike) who he falls instantly in love with. He pursues her relentlessly and when he finds his wife being unfaithful with Boogie, it gives him the chance to divorce her. It is after this that the incident where Boogie disappears happens.

Giamatti won the Best Actor award for his performance at the Golden Globes recently, although it was in the Comedy/Musical section. It’s an odd choice really, because although there are some laughs to be had in places, this is really more of a melancholy drama, especially as the movie goes into its second half.

Like many adaptations of famous novels, it feels a little rushed, like they wanted to pack too much of the book into the film. Paul Giamatti gives a fine performance as Barney but Rosamund Pike is a little too dull to convince as the love of his life. Dustin Hoffman gets most of the laughs as Barney’s hilarious inappropriate father. You can see the film’s ambition to be profound and moving, but TV director Richard J. Lewis just doesn’t make you sympathise with any of the characters enough to really care.

The performances make it a worthwhile exercise but it’s uneven in tone and far too long. It’s a decent enough film, but you do get the sense of an opportunity missed really.

- Jim O’Connor