GAME 6 (2006) *** Michael Keaton, Robert Downey, Jr., Bebe Neuwirth, Griffin Dunne, Catherine O'Hara, Harris Yulin, Tom Aldredge, Ari Graynor, Roger Rees, Shalom Harlow, Lillias White. (Dir: Michael Hoffman)
"There's no crying in baseball! : Keaton shines in his love of the game turn
Michael Keaton is one of my favorite (and largely underrated) actors. He hasn't been making a lot of films in the past few years but whenever he pops up you immediately are focused on his kinetic energy, the arched eyebrows not unlike Nicholson's (side note: I always thought it was divine intervention when they were cast in BATMAN since they had so many mirror image physical ties!) and glib, self-deprecating wit that acts as a shield from his inner demons his characters often try to keep at bay. His latest is no exception.
Based on a story by acclaimed author Don DeLillo (who adapted the screenplay), Keaton stars as a New York bred playwright who's latest work is to dawn on the fated October 1986 evening of the World Series where his beloved Boston Red Sox' lifetime curse gets re-enforced by the infamous ball-between first baseman Bill Buckner's legs.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Nicky Rogan (Keaton) is facing many cross-roads: his new play is about to premiere on Broadway but Rogan's dilemma is whether to avoid the possible public crucifixion by the notorious critic Steven Schwimmer (Downey in a wonderfully daffy turn) whose perchance for theatricality (he attends his works in masquerade since he has been virtually vilified by all who know him) sharpening his fangs to sink into his baby or watch the drama unfolding of his aforementioned team in the defining moment of baseball. Along the way he is avoiding his family, namely his wife Lillian (the equally gifted O'Hara) who is requesting a divorce and their teenage daughter Laurel (a great Graynor) whose dabbling into the punk era underscores her dad's rebellious nature in namely a heated affair with Joanna Bourne (a nubile Neuwirth) who is also giving Nicky an ultimatum.
To make matters worse he runs into an old colleague, Elliot Litvak (an unkempt and funny Dunne) who is downward spiraling fast after a devastating debacle in the form of his last attempt at a play that was skewered by the hated Schwimmer to the point Litvak can quote chapter and verse of the bilious critique that has him fixated to the extent of dementia. Nicky grows increasingly wearier as the day becomes night and after a short visit with his father ("The Sopranos" ' Aldredge) figures to ditch the premiere after all (especially when his leading man - the always welcome vet Yulin - whose addled brain can't get its grasp on a key line reading) and ducks into a local bar to add insult to injury and watch with melodramatic hubris his beloved Sox get theirs.
Filmmaker Hoffman does a yeoman-like job in getting fine quality performances from his gifted ensemble and in his star, Keaton gets a few juicy yet low-key turns as well balancing the tension that is leading to a possible fall-out. Smartly shot on location in Manhattan the city acts as a character as it normally does providing just enough backdrop to its proceedings at hand.
DeLillo has a fine gift for his literations and the parallel of Nicky's play - a quasi-autobiography about his relationship with his working class dad - with Nicky's family life shows a man, flawed, yet genuinely wanting to make things work. The same can be said of this little gem of a film.
"There's no crying in baseball! : Keaton shines in his love of the game turn
Michael Keaton is one of my favorite (and largely underrated) actors. He hasn't been making a lot of films in the past few years but whenever he pops up you immediately are focused on his kinetic energy, the arched eyebrows not unlike Nicholson's (side note: I always thought it was divine intervention when they were cast in BATMAN since they had so many mirror image physical ties!) and glib, self-deprecating wit that acts as a shield from his inner demons his characters often try to keep at bay. His latest is no exception.
Based on a story by acclaimed author Don DeLillo (who adapted the screenplay), Keaton stars as a New York bred playwright who's latest work is to dawn on the fated October 1986 evening of the World Series where his beloved Boston Red Sox' lifetime curse gets re-enforced by the infamous ball-between first baseman Bill Buckner's legs.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Nicky Rogan (Keaton) is facing many cross-roads: his new play is about to premiere on Broadway but Rogan's dilemma is whether to avoid the possible public crucifixion by the notorious critic Steven Schwimmer (Downey in a wonderfully daffy turn) whose perchance for theatricality (he attends his works in masquerade since he has been virtually vilified by all who know him) sharpening his fangs to sink into his baby or watch the drama unfolding of his aforementioned team in the defining moment of baseball. Along the way he is avoiding his family, namely his wife Lillian (the equally gifted O'Hara) who is requesting a divorce and their teenage daughter Laurel (a great Graynor) whose dabbling into the punk era underscores her dad's rebellious nature in namely a heated affair with Joanna Bourne (a nubile Neuwirth) who is also giving Nicky an ultimatum.
To make matters worse he runs into an old colleague, Elliot Litvak (an unkempt and funny Dunne) who is downward spiraling fast after a devastating debacle in the form of his last attempt at a play that was skewered by the hated Schwimmer to the point Litvak can quote chapter and verse of the bilious critique that has him fixated to the extent of dementia. Nicky grows increasingly wearier as the day becomes night and after a short visit with his father ("The Sopranos" ' Aldredge) figures to ditch the premiere after all (especially when his leading man - the always welcome vet Yulin - whose addled brain can't get its grasp on a key line reading) and ducks into a local bar to add insult to injury and watch with melodramatic hubris his beloved Sox get theirs.
Filmmaker Hoffman does a yeoman-like job in getting fine quality performances from his gifted ensemble and in his star, Keaton gets a few juicy yet low-key turns as well balancing the tension that is leading to a possible fall-out. Smartly shot on location in Manhattan the city acts as a character as it normally does providing just enough backdrop to its proceedings at hand.
DeLillo has a fine gift for his literations and the parallel of Nicky's play - a quasi-autobiography about his relationship with his working class dad - with Nicky's family life shows a man, flawed, yet genuinely wanting to make things work. The same can be said of this little gem of a film.