4 stars out of 5
Aryan wonderboy Justin Timberlake cast as “Mickey Rubin”? When will we Jews finally get a break in Hollywood? Still, JT does a fine job here, as does the entire ensemble in yet another very good film from the late-era Woody Allen. I like elder Wood Man, I really do — he’s putting together some truly compelling work. Perhaps it’s because he has a life of experience, and of thoughts, that have percolated into philosophical questions. And time runs out to answer them.
I’ve really looked forward to my summer vacations in different locales with Woody in recent years. Though this is a winter release, the sun is shining in early-1950s Coney Island. And it’s absolutely gorgeous to behold; credit Woody’s longtime colleague, production designer Santo Loquasto, and the great cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.
We meet lifeguard/playwright/narrator Mickey, who warns us he’ll soon be a character in the story. Later we see Mickey reading the psychological study Hamlet and Oedipus, and a Shakespearean vibe permeates the plot. Our set-up fits the framework of a comedy: Carolina (Juno Temple, who I know from Vinyl), daughter of merry-go-round operator Humpty (Jim Belushi), returns to her estranged dad after escaping the clutches of her gangster husband. Humpty’s world-weary wife Ginny (Kate Winslet) begins an affair with Mickey. But soon, Mickey and Carolina also fall for each other, while gangsters circle ever closer. Eventually, you realize you’re not watching a comedy but actually a tragedy.
Even when not evoking the Bard, there’s a definite theatrical feel to the proceedings, especially when we’re in Humpty and Ginny’s home just off the boardwalk. It’s like the set of a play, conflicts arising between different characters. Between this and Twin Peaks, Belushi has had an excellent year, oozing confidence and likability. Here he summons some inner Gleason, but just below the jovial exterior he’s keeping the wolves — and his drinking — at bay. Why is his wife so unhappy? How can he protect his daughter, who he’s just repaired his relationship with? And how can he stop his wife’s young son from (literally) starting fires?
Yet the movie truly belongs to Kate Winslet. Ginny longs for her happier life when she was an actress and truly in love (before wrecking it with infidelity), not a waitress who merely appreciates her husband for “saving” her. The romance with Mickey awakens Ginny’s hopes and dreams, but her growing awareness of Carolina and Mickey’s mutual attraction brings out her worst qualities, and resentment of Carolina’s youth. It’s powerful, and Winslet deserves an Oscar nod.
There’s a brief comic respite when Bobby Bacala and Paulie Walnuts show up as henchmen, but the mood continues to darken and feelings chill, even in the warm glow of Coney Island.
Jack Silbert, curator