You Were Never Really Here (2017) ***1/2

 

You may know of the writer, Jonathan Ames, from “Bored to Death,” the delightful HBO series based on his novella of the same name. It's about a bored, blocked writer who decides to try his hand at being a private investigator. What you may not know is that while the show is a comedy, the novella is actually a dark, serious, noir tale, not funny at all. Ames's writing covers a lot of genres, but I find him to be at his best writing serious noir. His other noir piece is another novella, “You Were Never Really Here,” and this time around, the screen version follows the written story pretty closely.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe, a troubled veteran who operates as something between a private detective and a hit-man. Joe specializes in rescuing girls who are being trafficked. Unlike a private eye, Joe doesn't get the cops involved. He just goes in and gets the girl out, and anyone who gets in his way is screwed. His weapon of choice is a hammer, because it's cheap, legal to carry, and easy to dispose of after the job. Joe isn't some ripped martial artist. He's a bit flabby, but bulky, and I would not want him coming at me with a hammer. His super-power is his complete lack of compunctions. When he isn't working, Joe's life is simple. He lives with and cares for his elderly mother. Otherwise, he ruminates on his troubled past, which includes his military service, his time in the FBI, and having an abusive father. We are given hints at this past in tiny flashbacks throughout the film.

Joe is hired by a politician to discreetly recover his daughter from a fancy brothel. The job is right in Joe's line, but it sucks him into a high-level conspiracy that threatens his insular world.

“You Were Never Really Here” is a good movie, but not for the faint of heart. The story is dark, the noiriest of noirs. It is also fragmented. We are thrust into Joe's present without explanation, given snippets of his past randomly, and only slowly does the story come together, and only if you are paying attention. Screenwriter and director Lynne Ramsay assumes a certain level of intelligence in her audience, an ability to infer what isn't explicitly given. This makes for a compelling film that I like more the more I think about it, but it also means you cannot afford to zone out for a second. When Ramsay tells us something important in this film, she only says it once. Not that you will want to zone out. “You Were Never Really Here” is a challenging film, and slow-paced, but it's a compelling story about a man who has seen terrible things, trying to find a reason to continue existing.

3.5 stars out of 5