The Forger - Il falsario

'The Forger' is a strange film in a way. It feels like it's trying to cover every genre at once from thriller to action to comedy to drama. They're all there but the film never takes the time to focus on one of them in particular and I think that holds it back. At times John Travolta's character is shown to be a tough man capable of fighting 6 men at once with ease. And yet this fact is only really useful to that scene and not in any other way to the story. There's a dramatic element holding the plot together which is Travolta's son having cancer, but even with this being the driving force behind everything it still feels half done. Then there's the art heist which you would imagine to be the crux of the entire thing, but this too feels like a tacked on plot piece simply there to give the film a title and a hint of excitement to an otherwise potentially dull story. Despite the balance being off though it's quite a watchable movie.

Travolta is looking old and worn down it has to be said. He looked very far from a man capable of taking on 6 large men in a fight. His performance, at least dramatically, was quite good however as you would expect with him of course having a close association with the lose of his son five years previously. He did struggle a bit with the Boston accent, with it appearing and disappearing from scene to scene. The rest of the cast held things together but were nothing memorable. I think a few touch ups of the script structure and this could have been quite a sleeper hit. Even as it it's not all that bad of a watch.

The review that caught my eye, before I rented "The Forger", was "Travolta's best performance in ten years...". But then, just before watching it, I searched for more reviews and saw that some critics panned it. Well, I happy to say they are wrong—it's a pretty good movie, after all.

I mean, come on, critics! I usually agree with you—but saying this is too "slow paced" and that it has "two, conflicting, story lines"? I LOVED the pace, and the acting, and, especially the story line(s).

OK, so it does have two story lines going on—the forgery and heist, and the human interest about the forger's family (his dad, his son, his ex-wife who had not seen the son in years, the female detective...). So what? It's believable (as much as any heist story or human interest story can be) to the point that plot vs. sub-plot is just not a problem.

I thought Travolta DID give a heck of a performance. His pace fit the overall pace of the film, as did that of the other actors. And Travolta, who has had his share of sorrow in real life, looked to me like a man who has been there, done that. He looks the part and is very convincing.

Everyone actually looked pretty good (or properly bad-ass) thanks to some solid lighting and overall nice cinematography. (This is not some kind of "art" film, but nevertheless consistent in it's camera work.) The sound quality was good (a pet peeve of mine in some films) including the music which seemed to fit the film nicely.

As for the VERY best performance in the film, besides Plummer, who is always fun to watch for me... it has to be young Tye Sheridan. Nicely understated, smart, believable. I'm looking forward to his next film, whatever it turns out to be.

Finally, the director certainly knows a thing or two about film making, as, even with the somewhat slow pace, everything builds mostly evenly towards a satisfying ending. Of course the screenplay had to work too, for that to happen.

Bottom line, I'm glad I rented "The Forger". I enjoyed pretty much all of it, and even replayed a few parts to study how the film was put together. Probably no Academy Awards coming for this, but all cast and crew can still stand tall.

The Forger, yet pretty forgettable, is still quite an involving drama, with an excellent performance from Travolta. The Forger offers little surprises and sits between good and fair. Travolta an ex con, is released early from prison, to be with his cancer ridden son, who probably has nine months to live. There's a catch. He has to forge a painting for these bad scummy dudes. Travolta kicks arse in this too, like when he's onset by these thugs, as if to remind him to do his job, or he's back in the clink. Travolta separated from his drug addicted wife, takes hos son to see her. This scenario was very reminiscent of that one in The Fourth Wish, where the actress here was excellent, up there wit Travolta. So is Christopher Plummer as the grandad, creating a hell of a interesting old guy character character, putting his magic touch of acting to it, like Travolta does with that paintbrush. The son too, is awesome, bringing a manifold of emotions with such realism and naturalism. One surprise is near the start, when Travolta's in that club, and is made the skank woman for a cop, which I didn't. Though quite a worthwhile drama, it's one you throw away after seeing it. How Travolta screws the bad dudes with his plan was very predictable, and there are other moments too. The final scene borders on tear jerking territory, so have those tissues ready.

People expecting a more action oriented heist type of movie will probably be disappointed. "The Forger" leans towards family drama territory.

Now, if you can get past Travolta's look in this picture (I couldn't help getting distracted by his awkward wig and goatee) and don't expect much, you'll probably be mildly entertained.

Christopher Plummer is very likable in this, and his presence helps the movie a lot.

Overall, straight to video material.

5 out of 10

So, deep in the heart of this picture, it's about a man trying to spend more time with his son. It's very touching.

John Travolta overall is good in this movie. He plays an incarcerated art forger who was release from prison early thanks to an old criminal contact who needs him to forge something for him while all the forger wants to do is make up for lost time with his son.

I really like the parts where Travolta's character is preparing for the heist to steel the painting and replace it with his forgery which is where this movie differs from other heist movies as it goes into what it's like to be an art forger.

Reminds me of the Art of steel starring Kurt Russell who like Travolta, I have not seen star in a movie in ages.

Not a bad movie to catch.