Manglehorn - Schlüssel zum Glück

I had the chance to see this at the Toronto International Film Festival in early September and came away disappointed.

The movie is founded on a great premise and I was eager to see where it went. Playing a brooding, lonely old man obsessed with a past relationship seems like a good fit for the veteran Pacino. A sole proprietor key cutter was the perfect choice of profession for such a character. Giving Pacino full screen time was a good choice, as I can't recall a scene that didn't feature Pacino.

However, inconsistency in the Manglehorn character seems to overwhelm a good acting performance. Manglehorn seems at times senile or rude, and at other times the clever, likable character with good advice. It doesn't help that a good explanation for his obsession with a past relationship is lacking.

There are some solid random scenes and conversations, including Manglehorn's discussion with a child or the entertaining Korine telling stories of little league. These worthwhile scenes are surrounded by just as many scenes that fall flat and make you lose interest. Too often scenes are present as filler or make you feel like a better climax is due. Manglehorn's interactions with his son, played well by Chris Messina, feel like they belong in a different story arc.

I believe that Green has the ability to make a great, subtle film if it all comes together. In Manglehorn, the script Pacino is given and the characters he is surrounded with take him no where in particular, which is fine if you are entertained or enlightened throughout the film's duration. That's not the case here. Though the foundation was there, the payoff isn't worth the attention paid.

David Gordon Green gave us 'Pineapple Express' but he also graced us with 'Prince Avalanche' and let's not forget he got Cage back to his best in 'Joe'. So can he do the same for Al Pacino, in a role specifically written for him, well yes and no. For anyone who has winced at Pacino's career of late I will say that this is one of his better roles but he essentially playing himself, a locksmith called Manglehorn who can't escape his past which won't allow him to live in the present. He spends his days with keys and his night with his cat Fanny and a whole heap of unhealthy memories. Friday he religiously goes to the bank where he meets Dawn (played brilliantly by Holly Hunter)and they start a strange friendship but will it be enough to pull Manglehorn into the now? The story is simple enough and has some truly great moments but there are also a few weird dream sequences that I'm not sure worked as well as they could. The cinematography is great and along with the soundtrack, acting and direction the story of Manglehorn is watchable if not a little long and quite slow paced. Expect a few laughs but it's really a more sombre affair about ageing, memories and living and one that will make you think about life, love and mortality. So 'Pineapple Express' it isn't you have been warned.

Manglehorn is an art piece with capricious writing. Al Pacino's role as Manglehorn is lavish. Pacino graces the film with his present, saving the movie from becoming forgettable. The supporting characters are very generic, as they weren't given quality material to work with. The supporting characters serve as background noise to the conundrum that is Manglehorn. Despite this, the supporting cast does a great job portraying these characters. The cinematography of this film is rich, matching the poetic tone of Manglehorn's love letters. The film's biggest flaw is it's writing. Manglehorn is written as a character who no one can fully understand or entirely relate to. The character contradicts himself on all fronts. Some of the supporting characters are entirely irrelevant and pointless. Manglehorn is portrayed as a "great man", when in reality he's stubborn and incredibly hateful. The story following Manglehorn is nonsensical and the central conflict resolves itself in a lazy manner. Overall, Manglehorn is a poorly written film with strong acting and graceful cinematography.

Out of all the roles Al Pacino has gotten in his career, that of A.J. Manglehorn must be his most unusual one to date. This might put people off (as I suspect is the case, given the mixed reviews), but you know what? I think it's one of his best performances. Life is never easy, especially when there's a big obstacle slowing you down from trying to get through it. Something that you keep thinking about, can't STOP thinking about, maybe don't even want to. And this is the case for Manglehorn. No matter how hopeless it is, how meaningless it is to keep pondering about it, he keeps writing letters to Clara, the long-lost love of his life. His contact with people is very limited and the only true friend he has is his cat. He's working as a locksmith, but doesn't feel like he contributes much to society. His sorta pal keeps talking about his new salon, which he doesn't care about. He doesn't see his son very often either.

He keeps being isolated because he doesn't see much meaning in life as Clara doesn't respond to his letters.

This was a very fine, down-to-earth little character study about a man with low self confidence and tough luck. And it was beautiful. The conversations flowed well and felt natural, the cinematography made great use of imagery to illustrate feelings and most of all did Al Pacino blow me away completely. It was to the point that he didn't even play a character, he was... anyone. Anyone you could happen to know. There are plenty of people out there like Manglehorn and this actor gave such a figure not only flesh and bones, but also intestines.

You'd have to be a fool to skip out on such a simple, yet special and poignant film.

Manglehorn is in essence a small simple story. No CG-I, no huge twists or plot points but rather a amazingly woven story of a lonely man attempting to overcome the loss of his old love. Al Pacino plays a role very different from the norm, hes a sarcastic, sad and sometimes bitter old man who spends his days either alone at his locksmith or mourning over a love that "could have been". Without spoiling anything, Manglehorn our main character slowly learns to love life again with the help of a friend. David Gorden Green does an incredible job at making this simple story pop by making many almost surreal like scenes (Most notably the watermelon scene). There are even scenes that are downright poetic (Scenes sometimes play out as Manglehorn recites a poem in the back, this is better than it may sound). As the story progresses it get quite deep, going into interesting back-stories about Manglehorns family (Mostly about the father and son relationship) and even at times very magical elements are hinted at.

I was lucky enough to see Manglehorn at TIFF this past September. If you get the chance this is a film that needs to be seen.