OPENINGS Jack Goes Boating --(Century 16) Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut, “Jack Goes Boating,� offers an alternative for those tired of the conventions of Hollywood romantic comedy. Arguably, it replaces one set of conventions for another — those of the typical Off-Broadway dramedy — but I’ll take shaggy weirdness over cynical slickness every time. Adapted by Bob Glaudini from his own play, “Jack Goes Boating� indeed comes directly from Off-Broadway, where Hoffman played the title character. Hoffman reprises his role on screen, and reunites with his costars John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega. Hoffman’s lonely bachelor Jack is a sad-sack striver whom we catch in mid-�strive.� Alongside best bud Clyde (Ortiz), Jack works as a New York City limo driver, but he harbors an aspiration to climb the next rung on the social ladder by getting a job with the MTA. Clyde has a more important advancement in mind for his friend: pairing Jack up with Connie (Amy Ryan, always welcome), a misfit co-worker of Clyde’s wife, Lucy (Rubin-Vega). With his hair “styled� in an abortive attempt at dreadlocks, Jack demonstrates he’s a man of enthusiasms (lately, The Melodians’ Rastafarian anthem “Rivers of Babylon,� which he takes with him wherever he goes). So when Connie suggests that a boating excursion would be nice, when the weather warms up, Jack seizes on the thought. If he’s to get in a boat, he’ll have to learn to swim, and Clyde agrees to begin giving his friend lessons. Another vein of self-improvement finds Jack having accidentally agreed to make dinner for Connie. Time to learn how to cook a meal. In its early-going, “Jack Goes Boating� proves especially tender and sweet. Though Lucy is a worldweary type, her husband is a conspicuously dedicated friend, whose loyalty to Jack is touching. The sensitive Connie also gives Jack good reason to hope in their awkward but warmhearted verbal dances. Still, there’s a reason Lucy warns Jack, about relationships, that “things’ll come up that you have to live with.� It’s clear that dysfunction has brought these characters to a place where they need each other perhaps a little too desperately, and greater signs of dysfunction begin to seep into the narrative on the way to a third-act social disaster: a dinner party that goes horribly wrong. Hoffman’s actorly sensibility allows the film’s best moments, expressed in gestures and non-verbal signifiers (nervous throat-clearing, an unanswered question hanging in the air). The characters’ spectacular “in vino veritas� cracking up at the climax is a bit heavy-handed, but there’s an intriguing contrast that builds to the moment, as we watch one relationship that’s troubled — Clyde and Lucy’s longstanding marriage — and another that’s just trying to get off the ground. In one way or another, all of the characters yearn for an indefinite
future, emblematized by the idea of the boating trip. Jack puts his trust in the “positive vibe� he’s been cultivating, a willfulness mirrored in Clyde’s swimming instruction for Jack to visualize himself achieving results. And perhaps the answer to all their problems is just that simple: an agreement to forgive the flaws and “see� the best in each other. Rated R for language, drug use and some sexual content. One hour, 29 minutes. — Peter Canavese
Heartbreaker --(Aquarius) There are matchmakers. And then there are matchbreakers, like Alex Lippi (Romain Duris), who is hired by anxious parents bent on breaking up what they believe is a daughter’s terrible romance. Alex, together with his sister and brother-in-law (Julie Ferrier and François Damiens) and with the help of sophisticated electronic gadgets, is the man for the job. “Heartbreaker,â€? a first-time feature by Pascal Chaumeil, is one of those delirious French farces that inevitably gets remade into an inferior Hollywood product. I understand that a deal has already been struck, but they’ll have a hard time replacing the chameleon-like Duris (“L’Auberge Espagnole,â€? The Beat My Heart Skippedâ€?), a superb physical comedian and toothy charmer. The film starts out in Morocco, where Alex’s target is Florence, a young French woman whose boyfriend prefers ogling other women at the hotel pool to seeing the sights. Pretending to be a selfless doctor (with a hired crew of adoring child patients), Alex charms Florence until she sees the light about her boyfriend. Alex has his principles. He doesn’t sleep with his targets, he doesn’t break up couples for racial or religious reasons, and he doesn’t mess with couples who are really in love. But a financial crisis and a hulking debt collector force him to break the last rule, and when an unscrupulous French financier asks him to stop the impending marriage of his daughter, Juliette (Vanessa Paradis), and her British fiancĂŠ, he’s forced to accept.
The rest of the plot takes place in Monte Carlo, affording cinematographer Thierry Arbogast the opportunity for some romantic shots. Things get complicated when Juliette’s nympho pal Sophie (Helena Noguerra) shows up and sets her sights on Alex, and even more so when the fiancĂŠ (Andrew Lincoln) arrives — and then even hotter, with action sequences, revolving hotelroom doors, bedroom romps, and everything else you expect from a French farce. However, the plot (screenplay by Laurent Zeitoun, Jeremy Doner and Yohan Gromb) always stays a few steps ahead of us, until the not-very-satisfactory conclusion. “Heartbreakerâ€? is more a footnote in French cinema rather than a Major Motion Picture. But willingly suspend your disbelief for 104 minutes and settle in for some good laughs. Not rated. 105 minutes. — Renata Polt
CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES For a review of “Howl,� which stars Palo Alto native James Franco but did not open in the area this week, go to PaloAltoOnline. com/movies.
IN THEATERS, IN
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Concerned about our Nation’s direction?
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Topic:
“Obama vs America� A clear concise and convincing explanation of the Obama doctrine, national security failures and Homeland Security policies.
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Larry GreenďŹ eld Media Commentator, founding Executive Director of the Reagan Legacy Foundation and Fellow in American Studies at the Claremont Institute.
When/Where:
October 5th at the IFES Portuguese Hall, 432 Stierlin Road, Mountain View
Time:
Reception starts at 6:15 PM Program starts at 7:00 PM
Cost:
Members Free - Non-Members $10.00 First Time Guests - Free The Conservative Forum of Silicon Valley www.theconservativeforum.com CITY OF PALO ALTO RECREATION PRESENTS
THE 26TH ANNUAL – Palo Alto Weekly
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MOONLIGHT
RUN&WALK
R E S O N AT E
MOONLIGHT RUN & WALK
RACE TONIGHT!
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Tickets: www.ivesquartet.org • 650.224.7849
HAYDN Quartet in B-Flat Major, Op. 50, No. 1 RUDHYAR Quartet No. 2, Crisis and Overcoming SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44
Sunday, September 26, 7PM Le Petit Trianon, San Jose
Friday, October 1, 8PM guest pianist Gwendolyn Mok performs Schumann
St. Marks Episcopal Church, Palo Alto *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ-iÂŤĂŒi“LiÀÊÓ{]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 31