Movie Notes: Fay Grim

October 25th, 2008

= 2 stars

Starring Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum
Directed by Hal Hartley

Synopsis

Fay Grim (Parker Posey) searches for her writer ex-husband Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan) after learning of his potential involvement in a vast international terrorist network.

The Good

• A film noir, screwball comedy beginning — rapid fire dialogue about serious matters of murder, spies, and international espionage.
• Parker Posey (with some really cool outfits), Jeff Goldblum (as a CIA operative) give a remarkable go at tackling the dense dialogue and manage to find an emotion behind every scene.
• About mid-way through when Fay’s in peril, Posey resembles Eva Marie Saint at the end of North By Northwest. Wish they kept going with that.

The Bad

• A tilted camera in every scene, alternating the angle from left to right. Extremely pointless and annoying, as it’s a trait shared by another terrible movie.
• While interesting, the HD camera lends almost too much clarity, and ultimately I don’t think the style served the story well.
• All actors besides Posey and Goldblum are very amateurish, reading the dialogue straight ahead and bog the movie down. Whenever the two leads are absent, the flick sags.
• When the enigmatic Henry is finally found, he’s rather gruff and rather a let down. This is no Apocalypse Now.
• Hartley never totally sells the foreign intrigue thing. I was left unsure if this aspect of the movie was meant as homage or mockery of the thriller genre.

Conclusion

It’s possible I’m not witty or intelligent enough to get this flick. I think it’s saying something about terrorism, and the slick, spy-thriller style is supposed to be satire — after all, they’re pursuing an alcoholic writer. Ultimately, I found it an unenjoyable exercise to figure out both the plot and what the heck Hartley was getting at. Even Posey’s entertaining performance can’t untangle the web that’s woven.

IMDB: Fay Grim
Wikipedia: Fay Grim
Rotten Tomatoes: Fay Grim 44%