Somebody Is Waiting

I was aware of the fluttering of wings, it was the movie trying to survive. The saddest, most in comprehensive mess of a film I've ever seen. The strangest thing is, you can't quite take it out of your mind. The faces of the actors are so compelling that you are left with the most frustrating sense of coitus interruptus I've ever experienced outside a bed. Nastassjia Kinski is the personification of a mother in a contemporary Brechtian slant. Gabriel Byrne has never been better, he fills his character with so much weakness and guilt that sometimes you have to look away. Brilliant! Johnny Whitworth, carrying his pain with shame and confusion is an amazing revelation. And yet, the film doesn't deliver any of the promises it seems to insinuate. The score is the the last nail on the coffin of this puzzling venture. What the hell happened here?

This movie left me with a bad feeling. But to see Gabriel Byrne's father role, succeed at making you feel like an adult child that had been soulfully, emotionally and sometimes physically abused, was impressive. I both cringed and found myself watching Byrne's every move throughout each scene he appeared in. I cannot say this movie was a success, but I can say it succeeded in pinpointing one's emotional roller coaster ride through a large family of siblings, alcoholism & ugly truths.

Martin Donovan, who also directed the quirky "Apartment Zero" among others, wrote and directed "Somebody is Waiting", a film with so much potential that is never fulfilled. Johnny Whitworth of "Empire Records" stars here (and is very flat) as a young teenage delinquent. His mother (the beautiful Nastassja Kinski, who could almost pass as his girlfriend) is a suffering mother of many other children. His girlfriend (Rebecca Gayheart, who should have STAYED a Noxema girl) is worried about him. And his father (Gabriel Byrne) is an abusive man who left the family years ago. This all could be some silly melodrama or a powerful family drama...but this one is the silly melodrama that it shouldn't have been.

Ambitious, yet very bad. Two Stars Out of Four.

I felt the need to see again this coming of age mess because I was haunted by those faces. Johnny Whitworth's pain is as vivid as it is beautiful. The frustration in Nastassjia Kinski's eyes is as piercing as it is recognizable. The weakness in Gabriel Byrne's brow is so real that made me uncomfortable. A man aware of his limitations but drinking the awareness away. Tiny, insignificant, talentless man and yet he manages to provoke a glimmer of compassion that becomes the central theme of the film: Forgiveness. The film seems to have been cut by the assistant chef of a third rate Chinese restaurant. Chop, chop, chop. I've been trying to find out the behind the scenes of this venture - I'm sure there is a story here - but I have found contrasting stories but more than anything, silence. The one thing in common from those I've been able to reach is an undiluted love and respect for the director and a profound loving memory of the experience.

Glimpses of brilliance and then, what is this? As if a nasty little virus had entered the system to ruin everything. There are moments of such poetry, faces with such power and then... I've heard there is another version floating around, I would love to see it. That may explain the mystery of this frustrating stew. Nastassja Kinski's face has never been so real. A mother's heart peeled in front of our eyes (and she's on the screen for only a few minutes) Gabriel Byrne's weakness, fear and pain are as sharp as anything I've ever seen him do. Johnny Whitworth makes us travel through the torturous roads of his own pain and confusion without asking us to, just by being there. It is a performance of great beauty, Shirley Knight and Brian Donovan are also standouts. And yet, the film leaves us with a sense of loss. As if we've fallen asleep in the middle of it and missed something important. If there is another movie inside this movie, please somebody, let it come out. I'm waiting!