Barney's Version

There must be something inherently Canadian about Barney's Version, directed by Richard J. Lewis from a novel by Mordecai Richler. If the thrice-married TV producer Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti in a Golden Globe winning turn) were American, he'd find time in his protracted midlife crisis to rail against God or have an affair with a graduate student. Barney's Version has its share of dramatic plot points, like a confrontation between Barney and his friend Boogie (Scott Speedman), but they arise out of a sense of everyday life spinning just slightly out of control as opposed to a screenwriter's need for an act break. The movie is structured as a sprint to find Barney's true love Miriam (Rosamund Pike), whom Barney meets at his wedding to the from-money daughter (Minnie Driver) of a member of Montreal's Jewish community, followed by Barney's attempts to win and then hold onto the woman he first propositioned while she was reading Herzog on a train. Giamatti's Barney is by turns irascible and selfish, but also capable of great tenderness and possessed of a healthy appetite for physical affection. It's a more expansive role than Giamatti is usually allowed, and he makes the most of it. Giamatti beautifully underplays the older Barney's confusion at forgetting the death of a friend, earlier he has a wonderful moment of anger (displaced guilt really) with his father-in-law (Saul Rubinek).

Special mention must be made of two other cast members. As Barney's father Izzy, Dustin Hoffman gets to a show an too often hidden comic side and steals the dinner table scene at which Barney meets his arrogant in-laws. It's to the movie's credit that we never exactly figure out exactly what kind of father Izzy was but understand how much Barney needed him around. Rachelle Lefevre is around for a few scenes as Barney's ill-fated first wife Clara, and this role is the answer to the trivia question of what got Lefevre fired from the Twilight series. Barney's Version rolls to a stop more than it ends, but there's no shame in that. Paul Giamatti makes this Version one worth hearing.