Juliet, Naked ** ½ / *****
Directed by: Jesse Peretz.
Written by: Evgenia
Peretz and Jim Taylor & Tamara Jenkins based on the novel by Nick Hornby.
Starring: Rose Byrne (Annie Platt), Chris
O'Dowd (Duncan Thomson), Ethan Hawke (Tucker Crowe), Alex Clatworthy (Katie), Lily
Newmark (Carly), Denise Gough (Gina), Phil Davis (Mayor Terry Barton), Azhy
Robertson (Jackson), Ayoola Smart (Lizzie).
The
author Nick Horby knows a lot about fandom – and the way that it can become
perverted into something ugly when your perspective in what it is you love
about the things you love, and you take it all too seriously. Watching the
great High Fidelity (2000) based on a Hornby novel, was an eye-opening
experience for me as an 18-year-old, who didn’t want to become so lost in the
things that I love that I ended up, well, like the character Duncan (Chris
O’Dowd) in Juliet, Naked. In this film, Duncan is an academic – he teaches
about movies and TV and pop culture at a University, and in his free time, runs
a website dedicated to Tucker Crowe – an indie rock icon who disappeared from
public life following the release of his celebrated album, Juliet – which was
full of songs about his breakup with a model he was in love with. Duncan has
been romantically involved with Annie (Rose Byrne) – the real protagonist of
the movie – for 15 years, and they have become stuck in a rut. Duncan can be
insufferable when his thoughts and opinions are challenged – and he doesn’t
like it that Annie doesn’t like Tucker as much as he does. All this comes to a
head when Tucker is sent a previously unreleased demo of the songs on Juliet –
but just sung by Tucker with a guitar, solo. While Duncan goes online to
proclaim its brilliance, Annie replies in the comments that’s it’s little more than
maudlin whining. Duncan is, of course, hugely offended – but Annie does draw an
admirer – Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke) – himself. The two start emailing, and a
deeper connection grows between them. Eventually, the pair will meet.
That is
the long, and fairly tortured setup, to Juliet, Naked which is a film who
appeal is basically the three leads actors, and their charm – which only takes
the film so far. As mentioned above, the real main character in the film is
Annie – who is tired of her lousy job, her lousy boyfriend, and her lousy
small, English town. She has started to think she wants children – despite the
fact that she and Duncan always agreed they didn’t want them. But when he
leaves her for a younger woman, who is more enamored by the things Duncan likes
than Annie is (which, is all he’s really looking for) and she draws closer to
Tucker, the movie doesn’t quite do what’s expected there either. Tucker is
Duncan’s opposite in many ways – he isn’t obsessive about anything, is the
father of 5 children, by four different women – but really only has a
relationship with one of them – the youngest, Jackson (Azhy Robertson). He
lives behind his ex-wife’s house in a barn so he can be close to Jackson – the
other kids off in various places, sometimes with little or no contact with him.
There is a connection there to be sure – but tellingly, in her voiceovers,
Annie doesn’t start to begin of starting a family with Tucker – but more about
single motherhood.
Byrne’s
performance here is a reminder of who frequently good she can be, and how she
needs to be better utilized in most movies – she is funny and charming here,
and keeps the movie afloat. This is the type of role you expect from Hawke –
very little needs to be done with his photos from the 1990s to make him look
like a greasy, indie rocker from the time – nor little done to him now to make
him look like a burnout. He coasts a little on that charm – but that’s right
for the character. The normally likable O’Dowd plays his role here well – but
it’s definitely a role where you aren’t supposed to like him, and for many, you
will recognize this guy as the insufferable one who lectures people who don’t
care on the brilliance of books, movies, TV shows or music they’ll never
consume (I hope I’m not that guy – in fact, so much so that strangely, I rarely
talk about movies with people, despite who many I see, and how much I write
about them).
There is
a scene – a conflict between Duncan and Tucker – that I wish was drawn out a
little bit more. Once Duncan realizes who is staying his his ex-girlfriend, he
comes around to talk to him, and the pair get into a fight – Duncan talking
about the brilliance of Juliet, and Tucker completely dismissing it. It comes
to a head when Duncan gets angry – and makes the point that the art no longer
belongs to Tucker, it belongs to those who love it. He has a point – but later,
when Tucker explains what made him walk away from music in the first place, so
does he. I wish these two moments could have brought into conversation with
each other, rather than just be a pair of monologues.
Overall,
Juliet, Naked never quite reaches the level it probably should. It has three
engaging performances, and a story that should be more interesting than it is.
I wanted to like Juliet, Naked more – but it just kind of sits there. It’s
charming enough, I guess, without every quite being good. In short, the movie
is far less than the sum of its parts.
