Barney Panofsky is living with his best friend Boogie in Rome. He marries the mentally disturbed and unfaithful Clara Charnofsky after she tells him she is pregnant with his child. He finds out the child — delivered stillborn — is not his, and he demands they separate. She commits suicide, and a devastated Barney decides to return home to Montreal.
Barney soon meets the woman who becomes his second wife, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family. At their lavish wedding, Barney meets Miriam Grant and immediately falls in love. He tells her his feelings for her that night, but she rejects him.
Despite his marriage, Barney sends flowers and gifts to Miriam. He later picks up Boogie, who comes to detox for a few days at Barney's lake house. He walks in on Boogie in bed with his wife. Initially overjoyed that he has an excuse to divorce her and pursue Miriam, he later questions Boogie's integrity. The drunk men argue, and Barney shoots two bullets from his gun to dissuade Boogie from snorkling, one into the air, before he trips and passes out on the dock, and Boogie falls backwards into the lake.
When Barney awakens, Boogie is missing. A detective tries to beat a confession out of him until his father, Izzy, intervenes. Barney continues to believe that Boogie ran away, and holds out hope that he will reappear.
With his divorce final, Barney asks Miriam on a date. He travels to New York City to meet her and finally begin a relationship. They marry and have two children, and Barney gets a job producing a television series. Izzy dies in a brothel, causing Barney to laugh and cry and call his father a "King". Barney and Miriam live happily until, on another vacation to the lake house, Barney meets Blair, who works in radio, Miriam's old line of work. There is an immediate platonic connection between Blair and Miriam, much to Barney's noticeable consternation.
After Barney and Miriam's son, Michael, leaves home, Miriam informs Barney of her intention to return to work. He attempts to dissuade her, but she persists and secures employment, thanks to support from Blair. Miriam begins work at a radio station, but Barney misses her first on-air interview — because he "was drunk and watching the hockey game, like has happened a thousand times before" — and is rude and dismissive to Miriam's colleagues.
Miriam remains steadfastly faithful to him, but eventually, his picaresque behavior results in her taking a weeklong visit to Michael's place in New York. While she is absent, Barney gets drunk at a bar and goes to bed with a former actress on his show. He tells Miriam about his infidelity, and they divorce. She soon marries Blair.
Barney, who has been displaying small signs of a deteriorating memory (forgetting where he left his car on two occasions), begins to show signs of an acute but unspecified memory loss. After Boogie's body is discovered near the lake house, dead from an apparent sky diving accident, Miriam meets Barney for lunch and offers to help as a friend.
When Miriam returns from the bathroom, Barney has paid for the meal but forgotten his wallet. She follows him, and, by the time she catches up to him, he has forgotten that they were divorced. He speaks to her as if it were years earlier, assuming that they're still married and that their children are quite young.
Barney's condition worsens until his death. While his children are helping to settle some of his affairs at the lake house, they observe a "water bomber" plane scoop up water from the lake and dump it on a fire on the mountainside, showing the children what could have happened to Boogie, referencing an urban myth.[6] The final scene shows Miriam visiting Barney's grave, leaving roses at a tombstone bearing both of their names.
Various Canadian film directors appear in cameos.[7]Atom Egoyan appears as an early director of Barney's soap opera, Constable O'Malley of the North, while David Cronenberg appears as a later director on the same soap.[8]Paul Gross plays the star of Barney's soap, and Denys Arcand portrays Jean, the maître d' at Barney and Miriam's luncheons beside the duck pond at Montreal's Ritz-Carlton. Ted Kotcheff appears as a train conductor.
Production
After being in development for 12 years, the film was released in September 2010 with Paul Giamatti in the title role.[3][9] It was directed by Richard J. Lewis and produced by Robert Lantos from a screenplay by Michael Konyves.[10] Filming took place in Montreal,[11]Lake Memphremagog, Rome and New York.[12] The visual effects were produced by Modus FX in Montreal.[13]
Release
The film grossed $472,892 in Canada during its first few weeks.[14] As of April 17, 2011, the film had grossed $4.3 million in the United States, and a total of $8 million worldwide. Most of the worldwide box-office was in Italy.[2]
Reception
As of January 2024[update], the film holds a 77% approval rating on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 137 reviews with an average rating 6.65 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads: "With a magnificent performance by Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version offers much comedy and insight to the complexities of modern romance."[15] It has a score of 67 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]
Roger Ebert praised the performances, writing that Giamatti's in particular "is one of those achievements. He is making a career of playing unremarkable but memorable men; remember his failed wine lover in 'Sideways,' his schleppy Harvey Pekar in 'American Splendor' and his soul-transplant victim in 'Cold Souls.'"[17] Ebert added the performance "is successful not simply because of his acting but because of his exuding. He has a sweet quality that just barely allows us to understand why three women, the last of them a saint, would want to marry him. It’s not money: He’s broke when he marries the first, the second is rich in her own right, and the third is so desirable that Barney actually walks out of his own wedding reception to chase her to the train station and declare his love at first sight."[17]
Mordecai Richler was a Canadian writer. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) and Barney's Version (1997). His 1970 novel St. Urbain's Horseman and 1989 novel Solomon Gursky Was Here were nominated for the Booker Prize. He is also well known for the Jacob Two-Two fantasy series for children. In addition to his fiction, Richler wrote numerous essays about the Jewish community in Canada, and about Canadian and Quebec nationalism. Richler's Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! (1992), a collection of essays about nationalism and anti-Semitism, generated considerable controversy.
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Linda Denise Blair is an American actress and activist. Known for her work in the horror genre, she first came to prominence with her portrayal of Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film established her in popular culture and as a scream queen. She reprised her role in two sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Exorcist: Believer (2023).
The Vanishing is a 1993 American psychological thriller film directed by George Sluizer and starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, and Sandra Bullock. It is a remake of Sluizer's 1988 French-Dutch film of the same name.
Roller Boogie is a 1979 American teen musical exploitation film directed by Mark L. Lester and starring Linda Blair, Jim Bray, Beverly Garland, Roger Perry, Mark Goddard, Jimmy Van Patten, and Kimberly Beck. Set in the Venice suburb of Los Angeles at the height of the roller skating fad of the late 1970s, it follows an upper-class young woman (Blair) who falls in love with a working class fellow skater (Bray) while the two seek to thwart efforts from a powerful mobster attempting to acquire the land where a popular roller rink is located.
Duets is a 2000 American road trip film co-produced and directed by Bruce Paltrow and written by John Byrum. The motion picture features an ensemble cast with Gwyneth Paltrow, Huey Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Maria Bello, Angie Dickinson, Scott Speedman, and Andre Braugher among others. The movie "revolves around the little known world of karaoke competitions and the wayward characters who inhabit it."
Robert Scott Speedman is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Ben Covington in the coming-of-age drama television series Felicity, Lycan–Vampire hybrid Michael Corvin in the gothic horror–action Underworld films, and Barry "Baz" Blackwell in the TNT crime drama series Animal Kingdom. His other film work includes Duets, Dark Blue, XXX: State of the Union, The Strangers, Barney's Version, The Vow, and Crimes of the Future. In 2021, he returned to Grey's Anatomy as a main character following a guest role in season 14 as Dr. Nick Marsh.
Richard J. Lewis is a Canadian television and film director.
Isabelle "Izzy" Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 1 September 2003. Izzy was introduced as Max Hoyland's younger sister. The character departed in 2006, following Bassingthwaighte's decision to focus on her music career. However, in March 2007, Bassingthwaighte made a brief return to film a few episodes set in London. The character was well received by critics and viewers and Bassingthwaighte earned three Logie Award nominations for her role. In October 2017, Bassingthwaighte reprised the role for a guest appearance and she returned on 12 February 2018 until 20 March 2018. She reprised the role again on 21 July 2022 for the serial's then final episodes.
Jack Scully is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Jay Bunyan. He made his first on-screen appearance on 17 April 2001. The character was initially played by Paul Pantano in a guest role. When he returned in 2002, Bunyan had taken over the role. Jack is the first son of Joe and Lyn Scully. He departed on 8 December 2004, with a further appearance on 11 January 2005.
Barney's Version is a novel written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, published by Knopf Canada in 1997.
Robert Lantos, CM is a Hungarian-Canadian film producer.
Joshua Then and Now is a 1985 Canadian film and a TV mini-series, adapted by Mordecai Richler from his semi-autobiographical novel Joshua Then and Now. James Woods starred as the adult Joshua, Gabrielle Lazure as his wife, and Alan Arkin as Joshua's father. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff who had previously directed Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
Izzy Davies is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Elize du Toit. She made her first appearance in 2000 before leaving in 2004. The character then briefly returned in October 2007.
Rabbit Hole is a 2010 American drama film directed by John Cameron Mitchell and written by David Lindsay-Abaire, based on his 2006 play of the same name. The film stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a grieving couple coping with the death of their four-year-old son. It also stars Dianne Wiest, Tammy Blanchard, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Tenney, Sandra Oh and Miles Teller in his film debut.
Casino Jack is a 2010 biographical crime drama directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C., lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction as well as the conviction of two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and vacations for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.
Win Win is a 2011 American sports comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Tom McCarthy from a story by McCarthy and Joe Tiboni. It stars Paul Giamatti as a struggling attorney who, volunteering as a high-school wrestling coach, takes on the guardianship of an elderly client in a desperate attempt to keep his practice afloat. Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, and Jeffrey Tambor appear in supporting roles.
Katy Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Georgia May Foote. The character's first appearance was broadcast on 30 July 2010 and she made her final appearance on 20 March 2015.
She's Funny That Way is a 2014 screwball comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and co-written with Louise Stratten. It stars Owen Wilson, Imogen Poots, Kathryn Hahn, Will Forte, Rhys Ifans, and Jennifer Aniston. It marked the first feature film Bogdanovich directed in 13 years since The Cat's Meow. In addition, the film marked Bogdanovich's final non-documentary feature he directed and Richard Lewis' final theatrical film before their deaths in 2022 and 2024 respectively.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
