Simple Men (1992)

"It was beautiful, like it used to be in the Northeast around October - in the old days, before the ozone was destroyed... In the evening, we just couldn't believe the light, and how the weather changed so quickly... That was one of the things me and my cinematographer really enjoyed with this film. We wanted to shoot outdoors, we really wanted to shoot nature." - Hal Hartley on shooting in Houston

In Hal Hartley's 3rd feature film, "Simple Men," he slows down his usual "hyper-reality" pacing to just at cruising level. Unfortunately, this makes the film unbearably slow. And because it is hard to sit still for, the interesting story almost gets lost.

The plot involves two brothers Bill (Robert Burke - "The Unbelievable Truth") and Dennis (William Sage). Since Burke has lost some of his youthful looks, Sage takes on the role of the younger brother and dons glasses to make himself look collegiate. After a couple of misadventures they hit the road in tandem to search for their father.

Hartley's script is full of the wonderful dialogue that we've come to expect and enjoy from his films ("The Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust") but the nervous, edgy tension is missing. Hartley filmed in Houston, Texas (substituting for New Jersey) so maybe the southern atmosphere hampered his pacing. Regardless of the reason, "Simple Men's" direction seems to pale compared to Hartley's earlier works.

Hartley fans will enjoy seeing Chris Cooke and Mark Chandler Bailey reprising their roles as Vic and Mike although this time they are transplanted into minor secondary roles. Martin Donovan ("Trust") also appears as a secondary character and (with a full beard) creates a whole new persona for himself, far removed from the insecure, frumpy character he played in the earlier Hartley film. Fans of TV's "Picket Fences" will enjoy seeing a young-looking Holly Marie Combs in a minor role as well.

"Simple Men" is a view of womanhood from an intelligent male perspective. Hartley seems to be breaking some sort of new ground here with this "brothers on the road" story that turns into a probing look at the simplicity of men and their relationships with the infinitely more complex yet also more comforting female gender. Whereas "Unbelievable Truth" and "Trust" are extremely complex, sometimes ambiguous films, here Hartley makes his message fairly clear; "You be good to her and she'll be good to you." With this line Hartley compares all womanhood to the Virgin Mother; beautiful, innocent, loving, smart and motherly.

"Simple Men" is better than most films but I didn't enjoy it as much as Hartley's other works - mainly because of the abysmally slow pacing. Still the characters and the acting are great and the final scene - especially the final line of dialogue - is a masterful ending to the film. As always, it makes one look forward, with baited breath, to where Hartley will go next.

Note:

(Review written in 1993)

Report Card

Script: B

Acting: A

Cinematography\Lighting: A

Special Effects\Make Up: C

Music: A+

Final Grade: B