"Joe Gould's Secret" is a real disappointment. Ian Holm knows what a particular brand of New York eccentric is like, but he can't turn that knowledge into anything more than a screechy, one-note performance. Stanley Tucci's direction is insanely pat and uninvolving. So his is performance -- and Hope Davis too. Nice cameos by Susan Sarandon and Steve Martin can't save it.
If your idea of mise en scene is a neatly arranged desk then this is your movie.
|