What’s the Story?

In BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN, Sara (Julianne Nicholson) is a graduate student driven to examine men and their relationships. She’s ostensibly doing so for academic reasons, and she finds plenty of subjects, both casual and official. She eavesdrops on men's conversations at restaurants, she watches them at work, and she sits them down for formal interviews, with each one-on-one building to a crescendo. The men (played by an ensemble that includes Christopher Meloni, Timothy Hutton, and Chris Messina) shock and awe Sara in their callousness and vulnerability. As she gathers information, her motives become clear: She’s gutted after a break-up, and she’s channeling her grief into her academic pursuits. But what has she really learned about men?

Is It Any Good?

Inspired by the late, great David Foster Wallace’s story collection, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (which debuted at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival) is a respectful adaptation that manages to visually translate the material but doesn’t necessarily capture its potency. Then again, Wallace’s work is hardly an easy read, and rendering it onscreen may be tougher still.

That monumental task fell to The Office’s John Krasinski, who shepherded the project from concept to fruition (he also acts in it). Kudos to him for not completely botching the job -- and for instilling some structure on which to hang Wallace’s stories. He also assembles one of the most talented group of actors -- in addition to the list above, the cast includes Will Arnett, Josh Charles, Frankie Faison, and Bobby Cannavale -- we’ve seen in a while. But, in the end, the audience hardly arrives at a coherent understanding of men. The interviews are all too brief and the epiphanies unsurprising.

Have you seen it?

Movie Details

Studio

IFC Entertainment

Director

John Krasinski

Cast

John Krasinski
Julianne Nicholson
Timothy Hutton

Genre

Drama

Run time

80 minutes

Theatrical release

9/25/2009

DVD release

3/16/2010

MPAA Rating

NR

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