Boogie Woogie (2009/I)

Director:

Duncan Ward

Writers:

Danny Moynihan (novel)
Danny Moynihan (screenplay)

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Alfie Allen	...	Photographer
Gillian Anderson	...	Jean Maclestone
Gemma Atkinson	...	Charlotte Bailey
Sidney Cole	...	Cabbie
Michael Culkin	...	Beth's Father
Alan Cumming	...	Dewey
Josephine de la Baume	...	Frenchie
Rosie Fellner	...	Rachel Leighton
Heather Graham	...	Beth Freemantle
Stephen Greif	...	Bobs Lawyer
Danny Huston	...	Art Spindle
Jack Huston	...	Joe
Gaetano Jouen	...	Himself
Christopher Lee	...	Alfred Rhinegold
Joanna Lumley	...	Alfreda Rhinegold
Simon McBurney	...	Robert Freign
Meredith Ostrom	...	Joany
Charlotte Rampling	...	Emille
Jenny Runacre	...	Mrs. Havermeyer
Amanda Seyfried	...	Paige Prideaux
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Bob Maccelstone
Jan Uddin	...	Art's Partner
Jaime Winstone	...	Elaine

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Autonomous

Bright spots merging too quickly into grey

Boogie Woogie brims over with great actors. Cast in roles that are ideal for them. A funky theme. A catchy title. Yet if its reach is rather greater than its grasp, I nevertheless feel slightly uncomfortable explaining why it didn't put any woogie back in my boogie. Comedy, like abstract art, can be very subjective. And Boogie Woogie tilts at both windmills without embracing either. Yet its many levels persuade me to look more closely rather than dismissing it based on an initial response.

This is comedy set in the world of fine art acquisition. Dealer gallery owner, Art Spindle (Danny Huston), wants hold of 'Boogie-Woogie.' A Mondrian painting he covets above all else. Its owner, Alfred Rhinegold (Christopher Lee), is desperately ill and Rhinegold's wife (Joanna Lumley) wants to up the ante with rival bidders. Especially one Bob Maclestone, a collector well played by Stellan Skarsgard. The plot is further complicated by everyone jumping into bed with temptingly wrong people for deliciously wrong reasons.

Scriptwriter Danny Moynihan has relocated the story of his novel from New York to London, and here lie some of the problems. Lines sound inauthentic, unconvincing, as if desperately trying to convince us that this is the real Cockney art world. Subtler tones of any backstory also seem damaged. Mondrian's last painting, for instance, 'Broadway Boogie Woogie,' represents the restless motion of Manhattan. Its grid-like patterns suggest New York's ordered chaos. The prominent yellow is the yellow of New York taxicabs. A metaphor to jazz in the title echoes the movement and rhythm seen as analogous to Mondrian's painted marks. There are even deeper studies about the artwork which relate to the nature of perception, but the film seems to have lost these at 'go.' Any eponymous substance has long been abandoned before such thoughts could kick in.

We are, however, treated to a constant (at times intrusive) jazz soundtrack. Plus an awful lot of arty chatter. As both Moynihan and director Duncan Ward have been involved with the art world, not to mention Damien Hirst being present as consultant, one might be forgiven for wanting a little more meat on the bone.

Joanna Lumley reprises some of the flavour from her hit TV series, Absolutely Fabulous. The familiar clash of taste and gobbiness is in full flow. But whereas Ab Fab scored with visual gags and highly developed comic characters, Boogie Woogie's attempt to lampoon style-over-substance seems oddly misjudged, woeful and hollow. Whereas Mondrian's work bristles with luminous colour, the film tries so hard to be bright that it ends up as lacklustre. In a word, inadequate to the task it has set itself. Leading parts are not charismatic enough to command or sustain appeal for a full hour and a half, even with such great actors. The timing of jokes seems rehearsed rather than spontaneous.

I also had a problem believing that the great and the good purveyors of fine art could really be such nobs. But an Arts Funding Manager I spoke to after the screening assured me that yes, they can. Did she enjoy the movie then? Not exactly. Perhaps Boogie Woogie will be exhumed at a date when it seems funnier. There is lots of sex. And for people involved in art, but bored with it all, perhaps the montage of familiar names and cameos of delightful stars could provide a pleasant soirée of meaningless delights. I vainly hope the backers aren't desperate for their returns just yet.