First Hit: At times it was well acted and engaging but overall the unevenness took away from its impact.
This is a sweet story of Jack (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) who lives his life in a quiet desperation. He would like a relationship and yet keeps his life in control and on a very short leash.
He’s a limousine driver, listens to the same cassette tape over and over again, has scruffy natural dreadlocks from not combing his hair and barely looks comfortable in any situation. His best friend Clyde (played by John Ortiz) is also a limo driver, is married to an edgy girl named Lucy (played by Daphne Rubin-Vega), and they both want Jack to be happy and settled in a good relationship unlike theirs.
Lucy and Clyde introduce Jack to Connie (played by Amy Ryan) who is a bit afraid of the world, is smart but hesitant, and has the vibration of having given up trying to have a relationship. The beauty of this film is in the moments when Jack and Connie are together and some of the best moments are when there is no dialogue.
The silences of both of them processing information and dealing with their own thoughts and insecurities are wonderful. Their dialogue is in tune with their experience of life and direct with a beautiful honesty.
They have a first date in early winter and plan a second date for the summer to go boating. You have to love that. However, they do figure out they can actually have dates in-between.
The downside of this it the film felt uneven in its execution. At times it had the pacing of a slower character study French film and at other times the pace was a bit too quick.
Hoffman both directed and starred. From an acting point of view he is solid as Jack and the deep smoldering anger that shows up in one particular moment is very defining and clearly in character. As a director the unevenness is directly related to an unsure way of how to direct this story in addition to plot difficulties that needed refinement. Ryan was exquisite and she also carried much of her role within and let it show evenly and with clarity. Ortiz’s character was difficult to understand and I don’t know if it was the role, him or the direction. Rubin-Vega was angry most of the film and it was within the character. But I wanted to know more as to why she felt so angry. Because of this her character felt constrained but key to the major dramatic moments.
Overall: A good film, some strong acting, and a story about people we might not see because they are hiding within most of the time.