Reviewer: James Van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): **½
American eccentrics overflow the work of film-making duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, from what you might call the eccentric celebrity-dining pictured in their 1997 debut film Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's to their masterpiece -- one of the more original American films in recent memory -- American Splendor. Even their so-so, somewhat misfired adaptation of The Nanny Diaries was saved by the eccentricities of its lead character (and the fine performance by Laura Linney, an actress who finds the latent oddities in all her characters). Berman and Pulcini seem more than intrigued by and attracted to the oddballs among us; they actually champion them.
Rating (out of 5): **½
American eccentrics overflow the work of film-making duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, from what you might call the eccentric celebrity-dining pictured in their 1997 debut film Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's to their masterpiece -- one of the more original American films in recent memory -- American Splendor. Even their so-so, somewhat misfired adaptation of The Nanny Diaries was saved by the eccentricities of its lead character (and the fine performance by Laura Linney, an actress who finds the latent oddities in all her characters). Berman and Pulcini seem more than intrigued by and attracted to the oddballs among us; they actually champion them.
- 11/29/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
Improve Your Taste With... Shari Springer Berman The co-director of American Splendor and The Extra Man on con-man romance and space-age bachelor-pad music. By Peter Smith In their early careers, filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and her husband Robert Pulcini won acclaim for their documentaries, including Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's and The Young and the Dead. Their first feature, American Splendor, was a warm adaptation of the respected comic-book series by Harvey Pekar; it received widespread acclaim (including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay). This Friday sees the release of their newest film, The Extra Man, starring Kevin Kline and Paul Dano and adapted from a novel by Jonathan Ames. Berman spoke to Nerve about the pop culture that's influenced her filmmaking, reeling off a dazzling and apparently off-the-cuff tribute to underappreciated works from the British cult comedy Withnail and I to the futurist [...]...
- 7/30/2010
- by Peter Smith
- Nerve
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