Barney's Version

Giamatti pulls tail whole galaxies out of his league for two hours. Engaging, but also sort of bland and uninspired all around. Pike is lovely, though, and it was a fairly pleasant couple of hours.

Telling a story covering the progression of a life over several decades can be challenging to fit into a feature film. Often, filmmakers simply do not have the time to develop traits sufficiently for the audience to invest and appreciate the importance of the characters' past. I think it's pulled off very well in this movie. I felt like I got to know Barney, and Giamatti becomes that guy. What a great performance. Hoffman, who's been uneven lately, is amazing, too: very funny, effortlessly cool.

Some tired clichés prevail as the film stays one step ahead of its audience (as if it knows where it's headed before it even gets there) and the Boogie subplot was highly unnecessary since a bittersweet love story lies at its foundation. Giamatti's performance is also noteworthy, what an amazing actor that guy is. Good if blatantly uneven.

Loved it, literally every second. When will Paul Giamatti stop being so awesome? Fucking never, that's when!

A tedious, pointless and generally unenjoyable story.

I really liked this film. Paul Giamatti truly carries this film and Hoffman and Pike add in some nice performances. Lewis is able to craft a film that very much feels like the story of a real mans life. There is ups and downs, happiness and sadness, life and death, love and betrayal, and at the center of it all is Giamatti's character, which he plays t o a t. Flawed though he may be, Barney is able to serve as a caricature of a real person, which I believe to be the most intriguing part.

I have not read the book so I can't judge the quality of the source material. But the characters in this film adaptation feel so underwritten that it left me disinterested in how things turned out for them. Thankfully, Giamatti makes things tolerable. He almost makes you forget the aimless, uninspired storytelling. Almost.

Once I finally figured out why the movie was structured the way it was, and titled its title, my heart dropped, in the biggest awww moment ever.

Very good film, pretty touching and with a couple of "oh shit" moments. Funny, compassionate and sad at the same time.

A well done Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike flick. Okay, Rosamund was in smaller part but nevertheless interesting work of art.

Awful, really a giant piece of shit. The tone is so clumsy, Barney's ailment is handled with all the subtlety of Michael Bay directing a holocaust movie. The scene where he smashes a bunch of furniture because he forgot his ex wife's phone number is howlingly hilarious because it seems so awkwardly placed. Pretty much all points go to the cinematography, which is pretty great. But ultimately, to borrow a phrase, it is like a statue of a retard carved from white gold.

A lot of elements that you can tell must have been integral to the book's narrative (the murder subplot, the nature of Barney's deteriorating memory and its potential effect on the reliability of the flashback structure) are seemingly ignored by Lewis's asinine, TV-movie-with-a-bigger-technical-budget direction in favour of a romance that should have ended with a restraining order. Giamatti's alright, but Saul Rubinek ended up being my favourite part of the whole movie. And he's in one scene.

#11#, reviews, story, P Giamatti.

Lewis' director lacks consistency of tone, and the script seems a little shapeless but the acting--particularly Giamatti's--is fine. As a matter of fact, he was so charming that it took my until the next day to realize what a flawed human being his character actually was. Hoffman--as Barney's policeman dad--gives one of his best supporting performances.

I love Dustin Hoffman. Giamatti is always great too. These two pull it out of the gutter. It kinda falls into Hallmark Movie of the Week territory, but I still enjoyed it.

Only the actors, mainly Giammatti, make this bearable.

P.Giamatti's acting and R.Pike's hotness are two sufficient reasons to see it.

good fun, serious on occasions.

I don't think I could ever tire of Paul Giamatti.

it was a pretty good film - and the ending was really sad, but for some reason i didn't really feel anything while watching. i mean i knew on a logical level that it was very sad, but i didn't really feel sad - probably because i didn't really like the character of barney to begin with. overall it was a good film, but i expected it to be much better.

High-grade schmaltz. The filmmakers mostly try to exercise a bit of restraint, but also make a few missteps, especially in relation to the Bernard subplot. Some audiences would doubtless have expected the eponymous protagonist to be a bit more cynically humorous or belligerent, but there is something to be said for the decision to portray him in a pleasingly well-rounded fashion. The heartstrings tugging in the final act is fairly conventionally done but will work for those willing to accept it.

Simply awesome!

Oh, these poor, beleaguered, misunderstood male assholes, on their perpetual existential quests that are somehow always important because they have a penis...Paul Giamatti is (unsurprisingly) a tour-de-force, but the entire film is a tired cliché, relying on the force of the male ego and the submission of the woman who is Too Good But Good For Him. Cool Girl Rosamund Pike, your mistake was finally accepting his roses after he threw up in your hotel bathroom. Ladies, you all deserve better!

Very depressing, but also interesting. Main problem is that it only really has one character, and he's not that compelling.

At the heart of this movie is various quality performances. Without having the illusion it's heading anywhere specific, I enjoyed it for the most of it's running time. Even the uneven tone becomes a habit as it goes on. Giamatti coupled with subtlety of Pike is a sight. Made me remember how great Hoffman was/is.

Bittersweet but too sentimental in the second hour, it could be awesome, but Lewis makes us want that Izzy (Dustin Hoffman) shows up again and again, and we just don't want to follow Barney's story anymore. Well, I guess there is something wrong with a movie that the best thing is a supporting character.

I don't remember this all that well but remember my opinion and trust the rating I gave it at the time enough that I won't likely rewatch it

For a character-centered film, the protagonist is way too uninteresting and lacking charisma not to get bored with him fast. It is hard to define genre of this film, bitter comedy, perhaps. Either way, this film doesn't work.

Engaging enough for the first two thirds, but let down by the mawkish last act. Giamatti is good as usual, and Hoffman is a lot of fun. I can't help feeling Barney could have been more cantankerous and outrageous.

I'm a bit torn with this one, cause on one hand it tells it's story in a very smooth and direct manner withouth much fuzz, but on the other hand it sometimes ignores some important things which could have added greatly to the overall storyline and even though Paul Giamatti gives a great performance I think casting someone else would have given a better result as I never believed in him as Barney... Still though, the topic which this movie touches upon always moves me!

"Barney's Version's inconsistent conception of its protagonist is exacerbated by a larger unevenness of tone." - Nick Schager

The script has plenty of funny and sad moments. Paul Giamatti is excellent in the lead role, he is great in this part. Minnie Driver, Dustin Hoffman and Rosamund Pike all give very good performances in this film. Definitely check out this great drama.

It lugs around old moral baggage but misses a profound confrontation with the specter of Jewish guilt.

Low key but enjoyable story of a love affair.

If Giamatti's particular brand of sad-eyed misanthropy floats your boat, you'll enjoy Barney's Version, an overcrammed and galumphing movie that nonetheless provides a bracing jolt of pure, uncut Giamatti.

One of my least favorite Paul Giamatti movies. Incredibly an ordinary guy marries Mini Driver, but at his wedding celebration falls hopelessly in love with Rosamund Pike at first sight. The guy is nuts, impulsive, immature and driven by his obsessions. The story was often hard to believe and relate to. His best friend sucked and disappeared. I hated how they shuffled the scenes out of sequence. Also, I disliked the pathetic but rather fitting ending.

a great cast of stars a great movie great plot 10 out of 10

I was afraid to watch this as I love the book so much. This is a great adaptation.

Barney's Version weaves effortlessly between the beautiful (the first hour of the film is quite good) and the trite, leaving the audience with a good, but never great, Rothesque tale of white male existentialism.

"Since Barney's Version is nothing if not a character study, Giamatti is the surly, sarcastic selling point."

not just bad, depressing, SUCKED!