Every once in a while there is a film that is well done. The acting is superb. The direction is inspired and probing. And the script is realistic, descriptive, and atmospheric. Everything is in place....but I don't like the film.
Chuck and Buck is one of these films. It is a daring piece of filmmaking. To make a film as unflinchingly as Miquel Arteta has about psychosexual obsessions such as this is what makes me love filmmaking. The direction is very good and subtle which I think is a good choice for a film of this nature.
Chris Weitz' portrayal of Chuck is masterful. It is easily one of the most complex and subtle performances I've seen in years. Chuck is a bit of an enigma and Chris wisely chooses to slowly develop the character over the course of the film. It is unclear just how Chuck feels about Buck at first. But at the climax of the movie, in the movie's best scene, Chris Weitz lets it all out there for you. It is a moving performance. And it is all the more good because, as scripted, Chuck is a little unsympathetic. But Chris Weitz breaks this character down and just inhabits it. He is easily the best thing in the movie.
Mike White doesn't fair so well as Buck. His line readings are just odd to me. He made Buck seem a little retarded and that bothered me. I don't think Buck was retarded. His overly twitchy mannerisms got to me too. I just felt overall that his performance was too obviously acting. I felt like I could see him playing this character. And he just tried to hard to make Buck sympathetic in ways the script doesn't. In effect he is working against himself...
...because Mike White, as screenwriter and actor, has constructed a film that is so one sided that it is a bit overwhelming. Chuck and Buck as plain a title as it is is very appropriate, because Buck doesn't exist outside of his relationship with Chuck. We don't get to see anything else about Buck. This presents more of a problem for Mike the actor because how does he make Buck likable but not pitiful, without another trait? This is the problem with the film. I don't think he does this and it ruins the film for me.
After watching this film on Sundance Channel, Mike White and Miguel Arteta discuss the movie. Mike explains that he pretty much wrote Buck to be a character that no one would want to be because that is precisely what he doesn't like about other films. I normally applaud filmmakers who have enough respect for the audience to ignore them, and this is a fascinating idea, but the central character is the doorway to the film and if you don't identify or sympathize or trust that character you are locked out of the film and can't really enjoy it. I got that Buck was a man-child who didn't want to grow up (or couldn't, depending on how you look at it) but this is all well and good but where is the rest? What else about Buck is worth telling. There doesn't seem to be much. This is like a twisted little fairy tale. One plotline, no subtext, take what you are presented with and move along to the end. It is a bit too distancing for me.
I wouldn't say Chuck and Buck is a bad film, because it isn't. But it is depressing in a way that isn't interesting or thought-provoking. It is disturbing in a way that isn't reflective or satirical. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was mean spirited but it walks that line precariously. And I guess that is what Mike White wanted. He was successful. There is a line in the film about Waiting for Godot , about how Chuck and Buck are like the men in the play. This is interesting because in a way nothing really happens in the movie. But Waiting for Godot is a good description of the film overall. Godot is the subtext, the heart of the movie, what drives it. I just kept waiting for it...
Chuck and Buck were best friends when they were young. Chuck grew up, and Buck didn't. When his mother dies, Buck invites Chuck (who mostly goes by Ch...More at HotMovieSale.com
Product DetailsOriginal Title:Chuck and BuckActors: Beth Colt - Chris Weitz - Lupe Ontiveros - Mike WhiteCondition: NEWFormat: DVDDirector: Miguel Ar...More at iNetVideo.com
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