Un gentleman a New York

I stumbled across this film on HBO years ago, and am so glad I recorded it, as I could never find it on DVD. I have always been a big Daniel Day Lewis fan, and this is unlike anything else I have ever seen him do. It is hard to believe this is the same year he appeared in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being;" what a contrast! It truly demonstrates his range and willingness to completely inhabit any role he takes on. Make no mistake- it is a really quirky film, but there are hilarious moments, and the supporting cast contribute to the overall effect. Just go with the flow!

This is one of those rare films that seems to divide into only two groups: You will only be able to love or hate this movie. However, I think the previous reviews leave out an essential element to determining which camp you fall into: whether you are interested in the actors (based on previous roles) or the film.

The best way to give you some idea of what to expect is the usual vehicle: comparison with other films. If you loved Martin Scorcese's film, After Hours or enjoyed Something Wild (with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels) or were even guiltily amused by Who's That Girl (Madonna and Griffin Dunne), then you will probably like this movie. Stars and Bars uses a similar formula of "straight laced, uptight man" being taken for a wild adventure by "free-spirited, sexy woman".

Obviously, this would put someone like Daniel Day-Lewis into the right role (a tightly wound serious man), but in a very different universe from films like "My Left Foot" and "The Age of Innocence". If you are hoping for another period piece or serious art, this film is not for you. Luckily, I happen to like films that range from Wim Wenders to the latest Adam Sandler vehicle. :)

It may be a far cry from classic screwball comedy, but even during its many forgettable moments this fish-out-of-water farce isn't a total write-off. Certainly there's nothing in it to justify the cold-blooded lack of confidence that killed it at the Box Office: the throwaway release it received is usually reserved for lame dogs someone wants put out of misery, and in this case it worked.

At least the film never pretends to be anything more than what it is: a self-consciously wacky social comedy with an outsider's exaggerated, broad-as-a-barn-door view of American manners, starring Daniel Day Lewis as a dapper English art appraiser who runs into an oddball collection of cartoon Confederate rebels while investigating a lost Renoir in backwoods Georgia. All the film needs is a laugh-track to become a respectable TV sitcom (a degenerate Beverly Hillbillies?), but director Pat O'Connor doesn't show much aptitude for low comedy, and the laughs collapse into a feeble slapstick conclusion, leaving the door wide open for a sequel which will never be made.

Oh, how I would love to own this on DVD! A marvelous job by Daniel Day Lewis, Harry Dean Stanton, Joan Cusack and Glann Headley. In my opinion it is a deep South tour-de-farce. I guess you have to have lived there to appreciate the humorous poke at what lies behind the moss-covered trees that line the backroads of the South. It reminds me of Out on a Limb, a similar Southern dark comedy with Matthew Broderick. Both are hysterical weekends with people whose family trees "don't branch!!" You'll never see Lewis doing this whimsy again, except perhaps as the pansy boyfriend in "Room with a View" which he did at about the same time. Both characters are played with equal artistic integrity he grants all his roles. Kudos and many laughs to all!

My review was written in March 1988 after watching the film at a Manhattan screening room.

In David Puttam's legacy at Columbia Pictures, "Stars and Bars" represents a major faux pas. Unfunny mixture of farce and misdirected satire has no conceivable audience apart from undiscriminating pay-cable viewers.

Project was developed by Puttna, but given to his ex-partner Sandy Lieberson to produce after Puttnam acceded to head of Columbia. Though an American picture, it features a high complement of U. K. personnel behind the camera.

Scripted by William Boyd from his novel, thin story line follows the misadventures of a Brit in America, or rather someone's view of what America is like (targets of Boyd's satire are all straw men). Daniel Day-Lewis plays the hapless hero, an art expert sent by his boss to acquire a rare Renoir painting (worth about $10,000,000) from hayseed Harry Dean Stanton, who claims to have bought it for $500 in France in 1946.

Bulk of the pic deals with Day-Lewis' interactions with Stanton's weird brood, including Maury Chaykin as his Elvis-imitating son who already has sold the painting to unscrupulous, rival New York art dealers. Nonsensical gags and caricatures represent a real comedown from Hollywood's cutesy but effective portrayal of Southern goofballs, especially in such funny films as the 1945 Fred MacMurray vehicle, "Murder, He Says".

Add to this concoctions some awkward bedroom farce (Day-Lewis unconvincingly juggling his new pickup, Joan Cusack, at an Atlanta hotelwith his fiancee Laurie Metcalf) that wouldn't pass muster as a West End farce for the tourist trade, and pic self-destructs rapidly. Helmer Pat O'Connor evidences no feel for comedy, having the cast overact unmercifully, except for standup comic Steven Wright (as Day-Lewis' business rival) who maintains his familiar deadpan pesona.

Day-Lewis is downright embarrassing, suffering through two extended nude chase scenes and nearly bursting a blood vessel in his uncharacteristic turn. Stanton is wasted in the sort of role he graduated from a decade ago and juve actress Martha Plimpton is miscast in a precocious temptress role.

Supporting cast is one long in-joke, featuring tons of New York talent whose presence will mean nothing to national audiences and add nothing to the picture, e.g., Spalding Gray, Rockets Redglare. Structurally the fact that Will Patton (recently impressive as the villain in "No Way Out") has a key role but doesn't show up on screen until two brief scenes in the final reel is mystifying.

Sting contributes an excellent theme song "An Englishman in New York", from his latest LP, which is pointlessly reprised near the end of the film.