NYFF continues. Here's Glenn looking at Richard Gere in 'Time Out of Mind'.
“The Richard Gere homeless movie” is a bit of a glib way to describe Time out of Mind, but that is the moniker that Oren Moverman’s third feature has found itself labelled with. I mean, it’s not like it’s without merit; Richard Gere does indeed play a homeless man, something far removed from the type of roles we’re more typically used to seeing the 65-year-old actor portray – and something one critic at the post-film Q&A attempted to allude to by asking the actor to compare this role to that in Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo, much to the actor’s and the crowd’s confusion.
I wish I could say there was more going on in Oren Moverman’s film, but I’m not sure I can. At least outside of the formal aspirations, which are admittedly very impressive and the sort of thing that made me wish for a meatier film to support them.
Moverman’s third film after the Oscar-nominated The Messenger and the contemptuous Rampart is a simple one, preferring to simply observe rather than truly examine the plague of homelessness. Large chunks of the film play out at a distance both emotionally and physically as Moverman’s camera stares at him from across the street, through windows, behind doors and in crowds, a visual concept that works technical wonders. In comparison to another homeless-on-the-streets-of-New-York film at NYFF, the Safdie brothers’ Heaven Knows What, which favored intense close-ups and bleak 16mm imagery, cinematographer Bobby Bukowski views from afar and when coupled with the enveloping diegetic sound design helps create a spellbinding technical achievement that is far beyond the film’s otherwise meagre we-are-the-world aspirations.
Politically, Time out of Mind has the same sort of goals as Bob Dylan from whom the film gets it title. Shining a light on a shameful part of American (and indeed global) society, but doesn’t really go far enough. On a dramatic level the film works better when Gere is allowed to share the screen with and interact with others. Jena Malone as the daughter he follows while she’s on a date and at work at a dive bar. Bob Vereen as a fellow shelter-seeker. And most impressively Kyra Sedgwick who is virtually unrecognizable as a woman of the streets who pushes around a cart of cans, sharing a moment of emotional and physical intimacy with the lead character that speaks to the universal nature of wanting to connect.
The film’s style will undoubtedly frustrate many who would likely favor something more immediate that would allow Gere the chance to scream and yell about the plight of being homeless. While I certainly don’t quite want that, more an emotional anchor would have been appreciated. As it is, Time Out of Mind is too long for something with such a slim emotional trajectory. As is common with films of this type, the moment it ends is perhaps the moment it gets the most interesting dramatically. As a technical demonstration, however, Moverman and his crew have achieved something special. It’s an awkward balancing act that doesn’t always work, but there’s a lot here to admire. B-
Time Out of Mind screens on Sunday Oct 5 (6pm) and Thursday Oct 9 (8.45pm)