Totalmente Kubrick

"Color Me Kubrick" will remind you a bit of Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me if You Can," in which Leonardo Di Caprio played a world-class con artist who duped people into believing he was a myriad of Very Important People whom he was really not. In "Colour Me Kubrick," the imposter is a man named Alan Conway who goes about London telling people he is the famed (and famously reclusive) director, Stanley Kubrick, in order to bum rides, free drinks and even sexual favors off of them. I guess it's appropriate that I just happened to catch this film on April 1st of all days.

Written by Andrew Frewin and directed by Brian W. Cook, "Color Me Kubrick" is clearly a godsend for its star, John Malkovich, who seems to be having the time of his movie-acting life doing this role. Malkovich tailors his demeanor and accent to fit the audience to whom he is playing, running the gamut from Capote-esquire fey for his gay "clients" (Conway is himself gay) to regular-guy macho for his straight targets. Yet, Malkovich never resorts to mere playacting to create his effect; by fully inhabiting the character, he keeps Conway from descending into a merely clownish figure and allows him to register as a fully fleshed-out human being.

Unfortunately, although the screenplay is frequently witty and even downright hilarious at times, the movie itself is never quite as good as Malkovich is in it. Despite its overall originality, there's an innate one-note quality to the setup that the movie cannot completely shake, so that, even at a mere eighty-six minutes, the conceit tends to wear a bit thin after awhile. The filmmakers somewhat make up for that weakness by also showing us the means by which Conway is eventually unmasked for all the world to see. There are also a number of surprisingly poignant moments in the film in which we are shown just how sad, lonely and pathetic an individual Conway really is. The most touching sequence comes when a movie-savvy young man in a bar uncovers Conway's ruse by trapping him with a trick Stanley Kramer question. As Conway slinks away from the scene humiliated and crestfallen, we can clearly see why Malkovich is one of the finest actors of his generation.

Beyond the Conway character, the film provides a gently satirical jab at our culture's overwhelming obsession with celebrity and our willingness to suspend critical judgment on a person or a scheme if we can discern a benefit for ourselves by doing so. For, indeed, virtually everyone who allows himself to be duped by this impersonator has starry-eyed dreams of one day making it big in either the entertainment business or the world of corporate financing. Conway has merely come up with a clever way of exploiting that obsession for his own personal benefit.

There's also something wryly humorous in the fact that, although Kubrick is universally recognized as being one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, his face was so unfamiliar to both the general populace and even people in the movie industry that Conway was able to pull this ruse off for so long without getting caught. Can anyone imagine an individual trying that same stunt with Spielberg, Tarantino, Scorsese, etc.?

This is a slight but endearing comedy that is a must-see for John Malkovich fans.

I have to say, after years of seeing Malkovich receive critical acclaim for acting roles in which he seemed to do little more than portray himself, I had pretty much written him off as another one of those American actors whose sole talent lay in having a charismatic persona. I gained renewed respect for him when I saw the priceless, "Being John Malkovich" - which, although not a film to challenge the former accusation, certainly showed that he had a sense of humour about himself and his established "persona". But with "Colour me Kubrick", he deserves full credit - both for allowing himself to appear absolutely ridiculous on film, and for a performance in which he truly transforms himself (multiple times) to portray the grotesque, yet strangely endearing character of Alan Conway. It's a fantastic performance that renews my belief in his skill as an actor. The film itself is cleverly written and well-executed, with excellent performances by all supporting characters. If it weren't for the many, hilarious sub-plots, involving Conway/Kubrick's hapless victims (all of whom, in some way, deserve what they get), the main plot - which is indeed a rather thin premise on which to base an entire film - would have grown tiresome quickly. As it is, the film probably couldn't have stood to be five minutes longer, and ended rather weakly. However, for what it was, it was very entertaining. As a small footnote: very surprising is the - totally uncharacteristic, and as a consequence, quite enjoyable - soundtrack work by Bryan Adams, usually known for his cheezy, lighter-waving, nausea-inducing rock-ballads. Since when does he make music like this?

Outrageous, delightful, astonishing one man show by the phenomenal John Malkovich. They tell us the story is a true-ish tale and they could have fooled me because it feels, the story and the character, like escapees from a Monty Python project. John Malkovich goes further that most people who ventures into a trueish story. Leonardo Di Caprio in "Catch Me If You Can" plays a true life con who gets away with the most incredible things but we buy that people buy it because there is something so believable in Di Caprio's persona. John Malkovich goes the opposite way. He doesn't care whether you believe it or not because he believes it. It is a spectacular performance and that alone makes Color Me Kubrick a must.

Having just seen this movie, the most striking thing for me was how impressive Malcovich's performance was... that man can act. his accents were hilarious, his comic timing was impeccable, his blatant homosexuality was wonderful. it's really of this which carries the movie through, as the plot itself doesn't really have much substance to it. the entire film revolves around one character, and it is only really malcovich's character which gains any development at all, so it's just as well he does it well.

personally, i enjoyed the film immensely, but came away with a great appreciation of malkovich, rather than for the film itself.

Something of a labour of love, Colour Me Kubrick is a short biopic of con-man Alan Conway who successfully posed as Stanley Kubrick during the director's lifetime. Played by John Malkovich at his most enduringly camp, Conway charms the socks, money and underpants from a string of wealthy suckers and gay young men. A master of his game, he gets people to write large cheques to cover fictitious donations to charity dinners as readily as conning twenty quid off a rock band to buy them (and him) fags and alcohol.

Wildly exuberant and certainly colourful, the film is well directed and acted. Its main shortcoming are two fold. The plot, such as it is, comprises a series of extended sketches until Conway's eventual apprehension, which lends an air of repetitiveness. Secondly, although Malkovich's intensely colourful campness is a remarkable achievement, he stage centres in practically every scene and if you cannot fall completely in love with it, the effeminate preening eventually can look dated and rather irritating.

Colour Me Kubrick is a traditional camp comedy with lots of cross-references for film fans. If you enjoy the first five minutes you will love it, otherwise it may have you climbing the walls.