Friday, December 5, 2008

Movie review: Nobel Son

By Alex Bentley

Film studios are usually very predictable in when they choose to release certain types of films. January through March is generally a dumping ground for horrid or just so-so films, May through August is the summer blockbuster season, and October through December is the time for Oscar-worthy films (April and September can overlap any of the sections they border).

So what to make of this week, in which two films are being released that seem greatly misplaced – Punisher: War Zone and Nobel Son? Nobel Son is an odd duck, as it was filmed over three years ago, had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2007, and is just now being released. Heck, director Randall Miller had time to make and release his subsequent film, Bottle Shock, before this one came out (with several of the same actors, I might add).

Given all that, one could reasonably expect Nobel Son to be a piece of trash that its producers are just hoping to trick an unsuspecting audience into seeing. The truth is that the movie isn't that bad; it's just that it tries to be clever, but can't quite pull it off. The titular son is Barkley Michaelson (Bryan Greenberg), a PhD student who doesn't seem to have much going for him, including the ability to choose a doctorate subject (cannibalism) that won't disgust most of the people he talks to.

Never trust a girl named City Hall, even if she looks like this.

Barkley starts to get a little more attention when his professor father, Eli (Alan Rickman), happens to win the Nobel Prize. Some of that attention is good – he finally works up the courage to talk to a girl named City Hall (Eliza Dushku), with surprisingly successful (and swift) results. Some of that attention is bad – he's tracked and eventually kidnapped by a ticked-off Thaddeus James (Shawn Hatosy), who has revenge on his mind for several things Eli did to his own dad.

However, once the kidnapping occurs, the film starts to go off the rails a bit by trying to throw a few too many curveballs at the audience. Miller and writing partner Jody Savin seem to want to emulate those David Mamet films in which everybody is double- or triple-crossing everybody else, but they end up underplaying just about every twist along the way. Just as one kink is starting to become clear, they move on to the next one, leaving the last one hanging without a resolution or explanation.

Trust me, this couple is nowhere near as happy as they look.

All of acting tends to be on the up-and-up. Rickman gets the best part as the philandering, egomaniacal Eli. His character gets to say some of the most mean-spirited stuff in the film and yet most of it seems to get a laugh because of the way he plays it. Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Danny DeVito, and Ted Danson each come and go throughout the film without making that much of an impact. In fact, Nobel Son has a similar feel to Smokin' Aces in that respect with its frenetic editing and drive-by appearances by semi-famous actors.

Nobel Son has the occasional entertaining moment, but when it tries to be a little too clever for its own good, it winds up losing any momentum it previously had.

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