STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING
An Old School New York Writer's Belated Discoveries Of The Heart
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "Starting Out In The Evening"
By Omar P.L. Moore/November 23, 2007
Frank Langella, in the best work he's ever done on film, as Leonard Schiller, an
acclaimed and prolific New York City writer whose career and love life is being
reborn by a young graduate student (Lauren Ambrose) who is doing her thesis on
his literary work. (Photos: Annabel Clark/Roadside Attractions)
"Starting Out In The Evening" is the most tender and heartfelt
film of the year, full of beauty and complexity, directed by Andrew Wagner and
co-written by Mr. Wagner and Fred Parnes, and adapted from the Pen/Faulkner
Award-nominated novel by Brian Morton. It stars Frank Langella, a
sure-fire Oscar nominee and an almost assured winner for the Best Actor Oscar as
Leonard Schiller, a prolific award-winning writer whose career is in a holding
pattern as he struggles to finish a novel that has been a ten-year labor of
love. He has his reasons for his writer's block, reasons which include his
tense relationship with his estranged daughter Ariel (excellent work by Lili
Taylor) who encounters her problems in an on-again, off-again relationship with
Corey (nicely played by British actor Adrian Lester), a man of whom Leonard
acidly disapproves. Ariel and Corey have their issues to be sure, but they
aren't the only ones.
The film also finds Lauren Ambrose entering Leonard's life. Ms. Ambrose's
Heather is ambitious, alluring, perky and persistent. Very persistent,
bordering on the persistence of the Alex Forrest character in "Fatal
Attraction", in Heather's entreating of Leonard to let her into his world and
his work for the thesis she is writing to complete her graduate school studies.
She interviews him at the most inconvenient times, and he bristles at her youth
and inexperience. Their co-existence is at best uneasy, and the evolution
of their student-grandfather-figure relationship isn't exploited, even if it may
provoke some discomfort in some American audiences. Mr. Wagner and Mr.
Parnes give dignity to all of the characters even if several of them behave in
undignified ways. All the characters are trying to attain is a measure of
respect and comfort and on more than one occasion for each of the main players
involved, those two variables are anything but easy to achieve.
"Starting Out In The Evening" is a quiet, mellow film that you
could watch with your significant other while nestled by a fireplace with a
glass of wine, and in that sense it probably plays far more intimately on and
for the small screen, but on the big screen its small scale and intimate
surroundings make it that much more of a treasure to witness unfold, with the
quietest moments always being the most beautiful ones. The acting is the
most impressive thing about "Starting Out", with Mr. Langella's
sure-to-be-Oscar-nominated performance (and a very strong possibility of a win)
as Leonard, with Lili Taylor striking a note very impressively as the tormented,
betwixt and between Ariel. While Mr. Langella has never been better on the
big screen (he's currently reprising his Tony-winning Broadway role as disgraced
former U.S. president Richard Nixon on the big screen for Ron Howard in
"Frost/Nixon", which is now being filmed), it is Ms. Taylor who is a revelation
as Ariel, giving her a dimension of frailty, contradiction, weakness and
vulnerability that some bigger-name actors overstretch their acting abilities to
display. Ariel writhes and thrashes, in the last throes of a relationship
that has been both very good and very bad for her. Ms. Taylor's Ariel is
alive but she may as well be walking wounded and in critical condition where her
emotions are concerned.
Mr. Langella with Lili Taylor as Ariel Schiller in "Starting Out In The
Evening", which opened today in New York and other cities, with expansion
elsewhere over the next few weeks.
You feel Mr. Langella's Leonard meditating into his twilight
years knowing he still has a good book and a good heart deep within him.
What happens to him in some ways is a surprise, and he is always one who
approves resolutely of order and simplicity. Of note is an especially
tender and warm scene that plays almost without a single word being said between
Ms. Ambrose and Mr. Langella, and it is as sensual as any non-sexual scene in a
film can be. It is a tribute to Mr. Langella's veteran craftmanship that
he can let this particular scene play out the way it does. When you see
the scene you will instantly know which it is. As for Ms. Ambrose overall,
she gives Heather an eagerness that is at times mildly unsettling. One cannot be
sure whether Heather herself is uncomfortable with getting to know more about
Leonard; she is confident and unbounded in her approach, yet her own ease may be
a mask for her own insecurities and discomfort as a 20-something graduate
student, who may be tempted to use the late Anne Bancroft's "are you trying to
seduce me?" line when the opportunity presents itself. The film doesn't
examine the Heather character in the same way that the Leonard and Ariel
characters are examined, and the one wish would have been to see more depth and
exploration of Heather. There are glimpses, but some will find Heather to
be a one-note exercise, red shoes and all.
Sometimes the feelings when watching this film are difficult to put into words;
at times it is a sublime experience. Mr. Wagner's direction is economical,
contained, with a camera that doesn't move a great deal, nor does it have to.
The cinematography by wonderfully captures New York City in all its energy and
heat, especially at night, where a walk down the street is especially romantic.
"Starting Out In The Evening" is one of the jewels of the year
-- a priceless treasure waiting for your eyes during this busy awards season.
Lauren Ambrose as Heather in Andrew Wagner's "Starting Out In The Evening".
"Starting Out In The Evening" is rated PG-13 by the Motion
Picture Association of America for sexual content, language and brief nudity.
The film, which opened in New York City today, expands over the next few weeks
with openings in San Francisco and other markets. The film's duration is
one hour and 51 minutes.
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