Barney’s Version, written by Michael Konyves, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, directed by Richard J. Lewis, 9 out of 10

Barney’s Version, written by Michael Konyves, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, directed by Richard J. Lewis

9 out of 10

Notes and thoughts on other books are available at:

-              https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E and   http://realini.blogspot.ro/

Barney’s Version is a very peculiar narrative of a strange man- Barney Panofsky.

He is portrayed by the always superlative Paul Giamatti.

The rest of the cast is splendid, with cameo appearances from four Canadian directors, including Atom Egoyan.

-          Dustin Hoffman is the heavyweight, but he is far from the days of The Graduate, Rainman or Kramer vs. Kramer

On the other hand, the actresses playing the wives of this producer who had charm, but was not so attractive are doing a good job:

-          Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike especially

Barney Panofsky has a first infatuation that ends up in a marriage in Italy, where the humor is involuntary.

In front of the authority that makes the marriage legal, the future husband is surprised by his bride-to-be:

-          First, he finds out that he does not really know her real name, for she had been married and did not change the passport…

-          Then, when a rather unhappy man is asking about further secrets, things he should know…like are there any children?

-          The answer is…yes…two

Very disturbed by all this, the otherwise mild and pleasant Barney keeps away from his first wife for a while.

When he asks his friend about any mail, he discovers a message from his spouse, inviting him to a specially cooked meal, for the evening of…a few days ago.

Realizing that he had missed this and it could be serious, Barney is off to her place, where, alas, he finds her dead.

There is no spoiler alert needed here, since this is a story told by an older man and we know from the start most of what had happened.

The death of his first wife comes up again at a later stage, when there is another incident and the detective investigating the missing friend believes that is a case of murder and he cites this past suicide as supporting his case.

Anyway, after a while, Barney meets with Minnie Driver aka the second wife of the hero, their marriage being marked by odd events.

First of all, Barney’s father, Izzy Panofsky- a rather tired and not phenomenal Dustin Hoffman-has a special wedding gift: a gun

But most important, at this special ceremony, Barney falls in love…and not with his wife to be, but with a guest…

Miriam Grant-later Panofsky- is there and the groom is fascinated and infatuated with her at first sight, confirming in a way the theory of “thin slicing” explained in the masterpiece Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by the genius Malcolm Gladwell.

In a few minutes, the groom suggests going to Rome, but Miriam aka Rosamund Pike refuses the invitation.

Notwithstanding this rejection, the groom abandons the ceremonies and guests and goes to the railway station.

The two do not run away with the train, but a dissatisfied husband, right from day one is a rare occurrence and this one is just bored and annoyed throughout his honeymoon and subsequent period.

His wife does cheat on him with his friend and there is a kerfuffle and the two friends have an argument near the lake.

Boogie, a good friend so far, falls in the lake and then disappears, in what the police believe to be a revenge killing.

Barney marries, after some ridiculous scenes in which he gets drunk and instead of seducing Miriam, he forces her to support him to bathroom, where he vomits, is then helped to the bed and pampered by the woman.

Paul Giamatti is outstanding in a complex, challenging role for which he received the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor.