Geoffrey Rush the best part of this 'half-baked narrative', writes Mark Orton.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Slyvia Hoeks, Donald Sutherland
Rating: (R16)
Three stars out of five
Returning to the streets of Trieste where he shot 2005's The Other Woman, director Giuseppe Tornatore has harnessed a wee bit of that darkness for this slightly muddled romantic drama. With a classic Geoffrey Rush performance guiding almost all of the narrative it should be a no-brainer and it almost is.
Rush is Virgil Oldman, a high-end auctioneer entrusted with fetching mountains of money for rare artworks. In cahoots with his friend Billy Whistler, played by an overtly hirsute Donald Sutherland, Oldman collects extremely valuable female portraits that he surrounds himself with in a rather eclectic man-cave. Indeed, it's Tornatore's laboured exposition over these details that both trips our curiosity and leaves a slightly unfulfilled feeling when it's not instantly obvious where the connections are. One thing is without doubt though; Oldman is a wreck in the company of the fairer sex.
Perhaps to compensate for his inadequacy, or even as a result of it, he has developed a sharp tongue to match his equally abrasive personality.
Echoing Hitchcock's trick in Vertigo, where he seemingly concludes the film two-thirds of the way through, Tornatore has more than a few narrative trick cards to play. The trouble is, they never amount to much of a hand. Ably assisted by Jim Sturgess who plays a clever young mechanic, Rush's consummate command of his craft is The Best Offer. After that, Tornatore's half-baked narrative feels pointless.
Best thing: Geoffrey Rush doing what Geoffrey Rush does best.
Worst thing: Realising that it's never going to end well, and it doesn't.
See it with: Anyone not expecting another Cinema Paradiso from Tornatore.
