Le porteur

The Pallbearer will be compared with The Graduate. A graduate (Tom, played by David Schwimmer), only one year later, has an affair with an older woman. She is the mother of a dead guy named Bill. Tom did not know Bill but the mother thinks he was his best friend. He plays along. The affair starts but Tom is really in love with a younger girl named Julie (Gwyneth Paltrow). So far this is a lot like The Graduate and in my opinion this wasn't a good part of the movie although it had its funny scenes.

The comparison with The Graduate holds on in the main plot-line may be, but The Pallbearer takes a different way in the way it is shown to us. I liked how the movie developed from that moment on. Especially the ending is well-chosen.

David Schwimmer was a better lead than I expected, he wasn't that bad. Most funny scenes were happening because of him. Gwyneth Paltrow was lovely and for me she made sure I liked the movie a little more. It is not very good but it has a couple of good laughs, a nice story and a nice chemistry between Schwimmer and Paltrow.

This 1996 flick was directed and co-written by Matt Reeves along with Jason Katims. A sort of serious romantic comedy. I loved Barbara Hershey in this. She never disappoints. Playing the mother of a son she lost, she turns to companionship to help heal the loss. David Schwimmer, Ross in FRIENDS, helps her out. Schwimmer does an admirable job as a young man, almost a virgin in relationships.

Then he meets the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and sparks begin to fly. So, the plot thickens when he's up against the two ladies in his life. Add another lady, Carol Kane, his mother, who does a brilliant job as she fawns over her son. She's a riot and brings what little comedy there is to the movie.

Friends to Schwimmer are played by Michael Rapaport as a groom to be, with advice for his friend, and Michael Vartan, who I have liked since THE NEXT BEST THING. They both add much to this movie.

Not really a comedy, as the acting is quite real and often touching, but enjoyable to watch the two stars in the leads and an excellent supporting cast.

"The Pallbearer", a schizophrenic cross-genre muddling of comedy, drama, and romance with idiosyncratic characters and a thin, marginally interesting story. Schwimmer is at the center of this slow moving, somewhat quirky flick about a young man who lives with his mother (Bosco anyone?) and courts a demure unassured girl (Paltrow) while having an affair with an older woman (Hershey). Most will find it difficult to get their head into this off-kilter story and its subtle tongue-in-cheek humor though it remains loyal to its purpose throughout...whatever that may be.

The tone of this film is really difficult to convey on paper. It manages to successfully capture the elusive appeal that David Schwimmer has from time to time; it's easy for his sad-sack personality to grow annoying and pathetic, but this script managed to walk that line. The scenes of embarrassment and shame never seem overdone or cheap, and serve the story well. I especially like the down-to-earth, realistic beauty that Gwyneth Paltrow always brings to a role; she never seems like a movie star playing a real person. Because of Schwimmer's brief tenure as a star with buzz, this was seen as a box office failure, but it was never the kind of movie likely to rake in huge bucks. For what it is, a small, thoughtful, offbeat romantic comedy, The Pallbearer is a winner.

This is a romantic comedy about a young man who is thrown through a roller coaster when he is asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral of a high school classmate he doesn't remember, and, in the process, runs into his high school crush.

As with many romantic comedies, in this movie, people meet, date, fall in love, make love, break-up and try to go on with their lives. There is a lack of suspense and intrigue in this movie, but some character development and heartfelt moments. The mediocre acting, though, made this a not-so-funny flick. If you're a fan of romantic comedies, it won't hurt to look for others.

Grade D+