After my controversial take on W., I’m back on safer and more comfortable ground today with a sentimental release, The Great Buck Howard. This was a movie that aired 14 months ago at the Sundance Film Festival, but didn’t get its theatrical release until the end of last month. It’s a comedy drama, written and directed by Sean McGinley whose only other work of note was 2003’s Two Days starring Paul Rudd.
Buck Howard is based, apparently loosely and fictitiously, on McGinley’s own experiences as a road manager for 1970’s mentalist The Amazing Kreskin. Howard, brilliantly played by John Malkovich, appeared 61 times on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, played Vegas and other big events, but is now making the rounds of half empty theatres in Bakersfield, California and Akron, Ohio. He still performs with a captivating and charming enthusiasm, but off stage longs for a return to the better times. Enter Troy (Colin Hanks) as Buck’s road manager. Troy dropped out of law school, and while he searches for his calling we get to witness the dismayed and cynical diva of Buck through his eyes.
The Great Buck Howard therefore is something of a two man act. On the one side we have the titular character, and when the movie focuses on him is undoubtedly when it’s at its best. Malkovich plays the role in a manner which is part satire and part sympathy. His toupee, teeth glistening smile, locomotive handshake and signature “I love this town” bring out the amusing mannerisms we saw in Being John Malkovich. He’s equally amusing in his cynicism too. You can’t help but laugh at the cruel disdain with which Buck treats his agent, his road managers and a “hayseed” who tries to snatch a moment of fame at one of his performances. Malkovich’s delivery is typically sharp but his facial expressions tell an even bigger story. If you liked him in Being John Malkovich, there’s plenty more of that here too.
The movie’s weaker moments however arrive in the coming of age story of Troy. He’s likeable in his sincerity and naivety, but it’s a story that we’ve seen many times before and Hanks, while solid, never lifts it up to a memorable level. There’s a smart moment of irony as real life father Tom Hanks, who served as producer, appears in two scenes as Troy’s dominating father. When he tells Troy of the sacrifices he made to get him into law school, you couldn’t help but hear a sub dialogue about how Tom got Colin into acting. Troy finds a brief fling in the arms of an intelligent publicist, smartly and attractively played by Emily Blunt, but the Troy story never really manages to express itself convincingly. What Troy does well is to tell the Buck Howard story, and despite the lack of depth, at 90 minutes the movie is never really allowed to drag.
The Great Buck Howard is a nice, cute and funny movie. Steve Zahn has a lesser role and does throw in some good moments of clueless comedy, and while the rest of the cast works well there’s not much depth beyond Buck Howard. To that extent it’s a screenplay that is somewhat underdeveloped and short on ideas. But John Malkovich does carry it almost singlehandedly and is worth the price of entry alone.
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