God's Lonely Man (1996)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Frank von Zerneck Jr.

Writer:

Frank von Zerneck Jr. (written by)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

As each relentless night turns towards day, Ernest Rackman turns towards violence to escape thoughts of loneliness and suicide...

Plot Keywords:

Loneliness | Despair | Depression | Independent Film

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Michael Wyle	...	Ernest Rakman
Jamie Walters	...	Hustler
Kyle Kelley	...	Patron
Justine Bateman	...	Meradith
Kevin Haley	...	Gary
J.C. Quinn	...	Clarence
Heather McComb	...	Christiane Birsh
Rebecca Budig	...	Babsy
Katie Wright	...	Danielle
Wallace Langham	...	Rick
Ginger Lynn Allen	...	AA Speaker
Julie Mannix	...	Waitress
Roxana Zal	...	Niki Birsh
Rodney Harvey	...	Glen
Kieran Mulroney	...	Keith

Runtime:

98 min | USA:101 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R18 | USA:NC-17

Company:

Panorama Entertainment

Uneven but still reasonably interesting homage to 'Taxi Driver'.

'God's Lonely Man' is allegedly "inspired by fact" so when watching this obvious homage to 'Taxi Driver' it raises some interesting questions regarding fact and fiction, what is real and what isn't. Almost any movie compared to Scorsese's masterpiece can't help but come off second best, but Gaspar Noe managed to make a brilliant and disturbing movie inspired by the same source (1998's 'I Stand Alone') so there's really no reason why Von Zerneck Jr couldn't have done the same. Unfortunately 'God's Lonely Man' doesn't entirely convince. Maybe it is Michael Wyle in the lead role, I dunno, but something just doesn't ring true, and his character's eventual freak out seems forced and unreal. Much better I thought was Heather McComb ('Apt Pupil') who gives a strong performance which shows a lot of promise. The best scene by far in the film was the movie screening involving an unusually cast but very effective Paul Dooley ('Sixteen Candles') and the very creepy Tom Towles ('Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer'). That was powerful, shocking and unexpected. If the rest of the movie had been as good as that it would have been another story, but as is, this is an uneven, sometimes dull and frustrating movie, which even so JUST has enough good bits to make it worth watching. Many others think much more highly of this movie than me, but I can't say it impressed me all that much.