Other Voices

Currently (March 2000) on the festival circuit, director Dan McCormack hopes that OTHER VOICES will go into general (if limited) release around November, pending the conclusion of financial details. I enjoyed the film immensely - you're best off going into it cold, so if you have any "friends" or enemies who try to tell you anything about the plot - run away!

So - this limits me to little bits and pieces. I don't know what your response to Peter Gallagher (sex, lies and videotape; AMERICAN BEAUTY) as a Frenchman will be. There was a bit of tittering in the audience I was in at his first lines, but that settled down rather quickly.

Rob Morrow (Jeff) did an interesting turn as a financial trader of some kind (even his sister Anna doesn't seem to know exactly what it is he does). He has a mild form of Tourette's syndrome - the symptoms increase when he's under stress or (as Anna admonishes him) when he doesn't take his medication. It's obvious they care for each other, but they aren't always on the same wavelength/frequency . . . which is, to some extent, the whole premise of OTHER VOICES - the mis-interpretation, willful or not, of what other people are saying (in more than one arena) and the resulting chaos than can emerge.

This is the kind of film that, no matter how closely you pay attention to details, additional viewings will supply new perspectives . . . which may (or may not) converge - a good one to talk about after with others.

This was one of the two or three movies I really liked at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival (another being the very funny "The Tao of Steve").

I actually can't remember that much about the plot, etc, but there were a few extremely clever, fabulous things that I haven't forgotten.

I can't really describe them effectively, because they just have to be seen to have the right effect.

One example:

There's a scene in which Jeff (Rob Morrow) takes John (Campbell Scott) and out to lunch at the latest hot restaurant in New York.

This is no ordinary restaurant.

It is an outdoor restaurant located on the tiny sliver of land between 5th and 23rd in New York right in front of the great Flat Iron Building.

It's an incredibly busy intersection.

The restaurant is nothing more than white linen-covered tables and velvet ropes which make up the "walls."

While diners eat gourmet food and try to have intimate conversations, they have to scream at each other because their voices are constantly drowned out by passing loud cars and buses.

When one of the characters decides to leave, he just raises his hand while sitting at the table and flags down a cab.

This is such an outlandish, wonderful concept, and the scene really encapsulates the New York mindset (at least before September 11, 2001).

New York is (maybe still) so consumed with the newest and the hippest and everyone wants to jump on the latest thing before anyone else, leading to more and more outlandish "it" places and things.

I have no idea how the makers of this small film ever got permission to pull this stunt off.

Just think of the imagination needed to come up with this idea, and to actually be able to make it happen, cheaply and without digital gimmickry, no less.

This is just a few minutes of the movie, but the imagination behind this scene permeates much of the rest of the film as well.

There's another scene which involves a helicopter on the roof of a skyscraper that's interesting, too.

What's even greater about these moments is that they are presented completely matter-of-factly.

Another movie or director with set pieces like that, and I can't think of many, might have a "aren't we clever?" way about them.

Not this one.

Some other scenes made me laugh at out loud, which is something maybe I shouldn't be proud to admit.

The Jeff character has Tourette's Syndrome, and maybe I should feel embarrassed that some of his outbursts cracked me up.

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to actually have this problem, not knowing when and if you might next loose control and what you'd do could be devastating.

However, I might be able to justify my laughter in this case.

If Jeff didn't have Tourette's he would probably still be a not so pleasant guy. It may also be possible to argue that he is at least partially responsible for his difficulties, since he's not always responsibly taking his medication.

Also, it is just a movie, so you are given some permission to laugh inappropriately on occasion. Our dormant sophomoric selves feel more comfortable making themselves known, and some of the laughter comes from knowing we probably shouldn't be laughing at all. For a perfect example, think of much of "There's Something About Mary."

Maybe if you're laughing at an actor in a movie, and not in real life at someone who actually has impairment, it might not be the worst thing in the world.

You've got to watch it closely to appreciate the humor. It's quirky and off-beat. It's not funny in the way that a lot of movies are funny these days--because the actors use lots of quips. You think it's one type of movie, and then gradually become aware that it's something else, and that it's very nice. You end up liking a bunch of strange people who are just trying to make their ways in the world. And you end up enjoying a funny movie in the process.

The acting is superb, and the dialogue comes at you so fast sometimes that two viewings may be needed. The two main characters, a married couple, are worried about their marriage and are not sure what to do about it. Their lives are the main focus. But it is the people who share their angst that make the movie what it is--particularly Campbell Scott in his best role ever, Rob Morrow as a hyper energetic trader who does something for a living but isn't sure what, and Stockard Channing who, as one other reviewer said, is the psychiatrist from hell.

Can't understand why this didn't really get picked up after Sundance. Very good Hitchcockian story with solid acting, writing, etc. I'm surprised this doesn't have a cult following I'm aware of. Definitely recommended.

Campbell Scott, cast against type, is absolutely hilarious in this movie. Without him, the film itself is kind of average, but his performance is worth the price of admission alone. That is, if anyone would smarten up and buy and release this movie already!