Joe Gould's Secret (2000)

Around 1940, The New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character, who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund, and who is writing a... See full summary »

Director:

Stanley Tucci

Writers:

Joseph Mitchell (books), Howard A. Rodman (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian Holm	...	Joe Gould
Stanley Tucci	...	Joe Mitchell
Hope Davis	...	Therese Mitchell
Sarah Hyland	...	Elizabeth Mitchell
Hallee Hirsh	...	Nora Mitchell
Celia Weston	...	Sarah
Patrick Tovatt	...	Harold Ross
Susan Sarandon	...	Alice Neel
Patricia Clarkson	...	Vivian Marquie
John Tormey	...	Harry Kolis
Jack O'Connell	...	Chef
Jerry Mayer	...	Minetta Bartender
Nell Campbell	...	Tamar (Hostess)
Ron Ryan	...	Jack
Allan Corduner	...	Francis McCrudden

Storyline

Around 1940, The New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character, who cadges meals, drinks, and contributions to the Joe Gould Fund, and who is writing a voluminous Oral History of the World, a record of twenty thousand conversations he's overheard. Mitchell is fascinated with this Harvard grad, and writes a 1942 piece about him, "Professor Seagull", bringing Gould some celebrity, and an invitation to join the Greenwich Village Ravens, a poetry club he's often crashed. Gould's touchy, querulous personality and his frequent dropping in on Mitchell for hours of chat, lead to a break-up, but the two Joes stay in touch until Gould's death, and Mitchell's unveiling of the secret.

---

Plot Keywords:

new yorker magazine | greenwich village manhattan new york city | oral history | secret | seagull | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Crônica de uma Certa Nova York

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$38,760, 9 April 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$641,117, 9 July 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bohemian Productions, First Cold Press Productions, October Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Mitchell: In my home town, I never felt at home. In New York, New York City, in Greenwich Village, down among the cranks, and the misfits, and the one runners, and the has-beens, and the might-have-beens, and the would-bes, and the never-wills, and the God-knows-whats, I have always felt at home.

---

Connections

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

---

Soundtracks

Sans Amour
Music by Cécile Chaminade (uncredited)
Lyrics by Charles Fuster (uncredited)
Performed by Josephine Baker
Courtesy of DCC Compact Classics

User Reviews

The year's best (so far)

It's no accident that the opening scene of "Joe Gould's Secret" is an all-American family having a normal conversation over breakfast. The head of this household, author Joseph (Joe) Mitchell (director Stanley Tucci) is about to have his world turned upside-down by a person whom he's at first merely intrigued by, but then finds himself friends with: Joe Gould, a homeless beggar who "speaks seagull." Gould (Ian Holm) is himself an author, claiming to have recorded a staggering volume recounting the conversations of strangers he calls the 'Oral History' or simply 'O.H.' One portion of the OH is his own thoughts on these conversations, which he keeps with different people he knows all over New York City. The other is the actual conversations, which he claims to have hidden away under lock and key. Gould won't let anyone read it because it's too personal to him. Over the course of the story, Mitchell starts to suspect that these writings don't even exist. He also finds that he's got a lot more in common with this mentally ill tramp than he'd care to admit.

The heart of the story is the friendship between Gould and Mitchell. Both men are well portrayed and given great depth by the actors who play them. That the script is the best of any produced this year doesn't hurt either. Mitchell treats Gould as a story he's writing, as merely an interesting character for people to read about, and not a human being. Mitchell thinks he's done Gould a great service, but finds that all he's done is take away even more of Gould's humanity. Most of his `friends' treat him in a similar fashion: they love how he entertains them with his craziness, but when it comes to helping him, the most they're willing to do is make a contribution to the "Joe Gould fund." Holm's performance is mesmerizing. Behind all of Gould's ravings is a sadness that he always manages to keep just below the surface. Holm brings across several levels of a man's personality, sometimes in no more than a glance. His work here is a perfect, once-in-a-lifetime achievement I hope he is remembered for.

There is much more to Joe Gould's Secret than a message about how we treat the homeless in America. It has so many levels, you could watch it several times and find a different story in it each time. Tucci has several points to make, but doesn't do it at the expense of storytelling. His love and understanding of the story and characters shines through, like a kid finding a stray puppy, running home with it, and announcing, "look what I found!"

Grade: A