There are a lot of ways to measure
age, but if you are a member of Generation X, one way is to follow
the film career of Ethan Hawke. He's pretty much the poster-boy of
our cohort, and yeah, he's getting up there in years.
In “Juliet, Naked,” the graying
Hawke play Tucker Crowe, a mysterious singer-songwriter who did one
great album, called “Juliet,” then disappeared, leaving behind a
small-but-dedicated cadre of fans. We learn the Crowe story from the
website of one of these fans, Duncan (Chris O'Dowd). Duncan is in
something of a state of arrested development, with a room plastered
with Tucker Crowe posters and filled with bootlegs. When he gets a
disc of raw demos of the songs from “Juliet,” he loves it as he
loves all things Crowe, but his long-suffering girlfriend, Annie
(Rose Byrne), isn't impressed. She puts a negative review of the
album on Duncan's fan site, and draws the attention of Crowe,
himself. Soon Crowe and Annie are having a secret, email
correspondence that blossoms into friendship and flirtation.
Despite the somewhat ridiculous
premise, the film is actually quite good, largely on the strength of
an excellent cast. The film is based on a book by Nick Hornby (“High
Fidelity” “About a Boy”), who loves to write stories about
music and musicians. Ethan Hawke relates in interviews that he has
been a Hornby fan for years, and was chuffed to get to play one of
his characters. It would be hard to imagine anyone other than Hugh
Grant as the lead in “About a Boy” or John Cusack in “High
Fidelity,” and the same can be said about Ethan Hawke in this film.
(Although it must also be said that “Juliet, Naked” is not quite
as good as those two films.) Hawke perfectly plays this earnest
man-boy who has fathered children with four different women, and
disappointed them all.
But “Juliet, Naked” isn't just
Tucker Crowe's story. It is equally about Annie and her attempt to
break out of her career and relationship inertia. She and Duncan are
tired of each other, but each lacks the gumption to make a change
without a solid push.
This isn't the greatest Nick Hornby
adaptation, but it's a decent movie. I wish they had gone ahead and
written full Tucker Crowe songs for the movie, John Carney-style. I
also wish the characters had a little more depth to them, especially
Annie. Still, this is good stuff if you like talky, funny movies
about adults trying to find their way.
One more thing: We do not get to see
Rose Byrne, or anyone else, nude in this film, despite the title's
“naked” attempt to suggest otherwise.
3.5 stars out of 5
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