He Was a Quiet Man

...that a human mind is capable of creating such intriguing plot - so terrifying and captivating this movie is. Frank Capello is obviously a man of genius. But he is not nice and gentle to his audience. The movie is sharp-straight, honest and pretty cruel to a person watching it. It doesn't compromise. Don't expect it to comply with general drama movie rules.

*** BE AWARE OF SPOILERS BELOW ***

After you ve seen 50% of it or so you think it's pretty common drama, quite predictable and possibly happily ending one. Well, its not. Not at all. And so shockingly not.

Cast is perfect. I would never think Slater could fit into the role of Bob. W.Macy would fit better, I thought. But these thoughts faded away.

The movie is not open-ended despite what some people say. You just have to think harder than you usually do while watching a regular movie. Be more attentive or watch it again.

Capello makes you think. If you want to know what really happened analyze the details. There are answers.

I give 9 out of 10, because Capello rudely and savagely ruined my hopes for the better ending :)

It seems that every once and a while, an occasionally brilliant film will catch my attention in the late hours of the night (or the early hours of the morning, as it was in my case); I found that film in "He Was a Quiet Man," writer-director Frank A. Cappello's brilliantly acted, smartly written satire about that unlikely hero whose "heroic" act may not have been so heroic, and in fact masked an inner rage that may actually make him the villain.

A seriously understated Christian Slater stars as Bob Maconel, a frustrated office worker whose first words in the picture have him counting the amount of bullets in his gun and who his intended targets are going to be. Bob lives alone and works as a drone in one of those big technology firms where it's never made clear what it is that they actually do, or what everyone's jobs are. Bob's day-to-day existence consists of him feeding his fish (who he talks to and they occasionally give him bad advice, fueling his murderous rage), going to work, rarely being acknowledged by his neighbors, being picked on by his co-workers, and working up the courage to go on his deadly shooting spree.

Well, just when Bob finally gets the courage to do the deed, he is beaten to the punch by a fellow enraged office worker. In the middle of the carnage, Bob and the shooter manage to strike up a casual conversation. When Bob asks why he's not going to shoot him, the man replies, "Because you're the only person in this office who's more pathetic than I am." Bob takes this personally and guns down the assailant. Afterward, he rushes to the side of the office beauty, Vanessa Parks (Elisha Cuthbert), who was seriously wounded in the attack and is the only person Bob ever really liked. Her smile could "light up a room," we're told throughout the film.

Bob is then branded a hero. The people he despised are now his best friends, including the office bully and the office slut, who would have never given the time of day before. (She gets her comeuppance in one particular scene that is all of hilarious, disgusting, and disturbing.) He gets a promotion, a brand-new office next to the big boss, Mr. Shelby (William H. Macy), and the company car. His neighbors finally acknowledge him; when one of them asks when did he move in, Bob replies, "I've lived here five years." He soon begins to visit Vanessa in the hospital, whose spine was severed by a bullet and is now a quadriplegic. She begs him to finish what the shooter started. When he relents, that's when the two begin a tentative relationship that begins to calm the deadly monster lurking within him. Later on in the film, however, troubling questions begin to arise about Bob's sanity and his grip on his new reality that he has found himself in.

As many have mentioned, "He Was a Quiet Man," seems to combine elements of past similar-themed features including "Falling Down," "Office Space" and "A History of Violence," plus a few of the artistically weird storytelling aesthetics of a David Lynch picture. Similarities seem to end fairly early in the picture after Bob first becomes a hero and a media darling. It seems that when you finally have a grasp on where it's all headed, the picture does a 360 and winds up going right back to where it started, both metaphorically and literally.

Slater was pretty good in this film; his performance here worked from his first seconds on screen, his character of office drone Bob Maconel combining elements of the main characters from the films I mentioned earlier and hitting all the right emotive notes. For years, he's been hounded by his Jack Nicholson obsession and I think here he seems to have finally come into his own as a seriously demented loner who is quickly losing his grip on reality.

While by no means one of my favorite actresses, it was a delight to see Elisha Cuthbert in a role where her gorgeous looks are only part of her performance and are not THE performance; here is a beautiful woman who freely admits to using her sexuality as a means of getting ahead in life and now she's been reduced to nothing - a fact that she freely admits to having accepted - and finally having to take things extra slow because her most valuable asset has been taken away from her: her own body. Maybe I'm overreaching or being overly critical - I did like her in "The Girl Next Door" (2004) - she can act, it's that I haven't liked too many of her film projects since '04. Anyway, when she's confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, for me, it's almost like stepping back to truly appreciate a fine piece of art. Only then, is she truly beautiful.

"He Was a Quiet Man" is not a perfect film. The script is prone to occasional slips of the pen in certain places, but the performances (especially by Christian Slater and Elisha Cuthbert) and Cappello's artistic direction and grip on the finer points of the material make up for it. "He Was a Quiet Man" is one of those brilliant movies that forces us to look at ourselves and see what makes us tick. It's funny, it's dramatic and it's also occasionally quite disturbing, but it is an example of all-around great, late-night fanfare that deserves more respect from the movie-going public.

9/10

Well, by camera work I really mean all visual effects as well as the cinematography, set design... it's a visual treat. The effects used to dramatize Bob McConnell's sense of isolation and loneliness were intriguing.

Also great acting by Mr. Slater, as usual. I like this guy's work.

It's nice to see William Macy in a different type of role than I usually see him in, but anyone could have done that turn -- not much there for him to do, but he ably supports, which is a fine thing, since that's what his role here should be...

In some ways, it reminded me of Fight Club.

Saw this on an airplane today, and now I'm kicking back and looking it up.

I quite enjoyed it.

The acting is fine, but the movie resorts to cheating the audience by pretending to be something it is not. The ending does not make me ponder anything, except why? Up to that point, the film was for the most part believable, and it was totally unnecessary to jazz up the ending. Reality plays far better than conjecture, so the confusing conclusion was out of place. You can watch "He Was a Quiet Man" as many times as you want, to speculate. I on the other hand would have preferred simple entertainment, which until the end, this movie was. My conclusion ...................................This movie is good for awhile, but the ending drags the whole thing down a couple notches. - MERK

A Dark Character Study that is a well Crafted, superbly Acted, smartly Directed, Offbeat, and somewhat Depressing Film. Christian Slater plays against Type and does so with intense, uncanny Verisimilitude. This should have been a second wind Career changer, but His Performance and the Movie were ignored, dismissed, and unrecognized.

To this Day it collects dust on shelves everywhere and exists anonymously wherever Discs are Rented, Sold, or exchanged. It deserves so much more because although the Story maybe a bit familiar and its Twists not as Fresh as they used to be, it is still a gripping Psychological Study that is Timeless and Relevant.

It goes about its Therapeutic Theme with Style and Insight. The Ending has taken the brunt of attacks from those who have seen it as ambiguous and unsatisfying, but it is not all that. In fact, it is a straightforward conclusion and rests on the inevitable Fate of the Failure of a Quiet Man and His frustrating existence in the cold Cubicle World of the Fortune Five Hundred that has no place for a Man who just wanted to be acknowledged for nothing more than being.