Customer Reviews

The Merry Gentleman

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Michael Keaton has one of the best hit man faces out there, and I enjoyed watching this slow paced tale unfold and in the end, embrace a certain ambiguity.

The story follows the unlikely crossing of paths between a professional hitter and a Scottish secretary who inadvertently sees Keaton after he has sniped someone. We never get too much background on him, nor why he does anything that he does, but we do get a relationship development theme. What made this stand out was the writing regarding the police, they were shown as actually figuring out the mysteries surrounding the story (instead of them being oblivious and looking dumb). Not the most conclusive ending for the characters, but I liked it.

The DVD clarity is good and the sound is adequate; the supplement is a 16 minute making-of that had some good behind the scenes about Keaton's thought process on both sides of the camera. 3.5 for the film and DVD quality, .5 for the supplement.

Those who know and admire Keaton's work will long have considered him both underappreciated and diverse. From madcap comedies like Night Shift and Mr. Mom to harrowing dramas like Clean & Sober and Game 6, Keaton is one of our most valued cinematic resources all but ignored in modern Hollywood. And yet, he was somehow able to secure financing and helm this touching character study about loneliness. It's a quiet film, the kind you have to lean into and meet on its own terms. While it may involve a hit man, an abused woman and a meddlesome policeman, The Merry Gentleman is independent to the bone. The pacing is very deliberate and static. And while it may not be for everyone, if you favor stillness over bombast, character over action, you should be pleasantly surprised by it.

The title of The Merry Gentleman, Michael Keaton's directorial debut, comes from the beginning of the film when hitman Keaton helps secretary Kelly MacDonald, who has fallen under a Christmas Tree she is trying to bring into her apartment. Earlier, MacDonald saw Keaton standing on the ledge of a building across from her office. Keaton had just made a "hit" and was contemplating suicide. It turns out that Keaton is a tailor who kills people on the side and hates himself for it. Does he show up at MacDonald's door to kill her because she might be able to identify him? After helping her bring her tree into her apartment, he walks away, only to return the next day to visit her. Unfortunately, he has pneumonia and falls senseless the ground outside her apartment. MacDonald finds him, gets him to the hospital, and a beautiful friendship is born -- on Christmas Day, no less.

All this described action takes place in the first few minutes of the movie. The rest of the film explores the relationship of Keaton and MacDonald, and it is well done. If the film doesn't make much sense, we don't care because we are genuinely interested in what is going to happen to this odd couple. The police are after Keaton and MacDonald's abusive husband is after her. Will the police catch Keaton and will MacDonald's husband find her? We care about the answers to these questions and watch with some interest as the plot plays out.

As mentioned in the beginning of this review, this film is Michael Keaton's directorial debut. He directs his cast, particularly MacDonald, reasonably well, but the story is confusing, particularly his own role as hitman. All the characters related to the hitman part of the story are given marginal status in the film. They appear, disappear, and are forgotten. We have no idea what motivates Keaton and this is a problem. How are we to understand his behavior towards MacDonald? He kills people mercilessly, yet he is kind and caring toward MacDonald.

I have been careful to avoid mentioning any spoilers in this review. I recommend the film because the Keaton/MacDonald story is genuinely interesting and well done. At the very end the viewer can decide what sense it all makes. I must admit confusion and some slight disappointment.

This movie is a 'MUST SEE' (alone) for a scene in the movie that lasts (approximate) about 1.5 minutes where Keaton is interrupted at the expensive Men's clothing store (where he is a tailor), visited by the Detective investigating: a Hitman job, a near suicidal jump off a building rooftop, (where the Hitman's killing shot came from), a visit (to the witness of that near suicidal jump) by her abandoned, abusive, police husband..., then her abandoned husband's 'suicide'...
In the scene that made me stand up and step closer to the TV, Michael keaton is cold..., very cold..., to the detective without being, (whats the word I seek?), obvious? Michael Keaton's S-L-O-W delivery in response to the Detectives astute 'observations' sent shivers down my spine as I witnessed one of those rare cinematic moments (for me) that I will never forget and and I will FOREVER tell people about this movie so they to (as well as you, now!) can witness Michael Keaton deliver this role of UNDERSTATED ELEGANCE... Has that 'Casablanca' type ending as well... LOVED it...!

If you must have action and sex and comedy in every scene of a movie, you will not appreciate this one. On the other hand, if you like subtlety and nuance and understatement, this is the movie for you. If you liked "Dinner Rush" with Danny Aiello, you will like this one too. If you liked Coppola's "The Conversation" you will also like this one.
A movie full of absolutely wonderful scenes (blown seal joke, Christmas tree in farm field, hospital room, church, restaurant dates, scenes between the two cops), great dialogue, magnificent acting. Kelly MacDonald is fabulous, Michael Keaton tremendous as actor and director. His lined face, under that cloth cap, is a roadmap of pain and regret.
There is little or no exposition in this film. The ending is open, so don't expect all your "t's" to be crossed. You may have to think a bit. If you can handle that, you will find this to be a fascinating movie.
"I don't really notice the people as much as I notice the suits.": great, revealing line by Keaton's character. Noteworthy performance by Tom Bastounes as the cop interested in Kelly Mac's character.

Why isn't Keaton doing more? He is controlled and mesmerizing. Surely there must be roles for this guy. A watchable entertaining little movie.

Keaton is fun to watch in this film as a reticent hit man with more than a little trouble relating to people, and Kelly Macdonald is fine, as a Scots woman on the run from an abusive husband. There's a cute meet as he finds her under a fallen Christmas tree, and the unlikeliest of tentative love affairs blossoms between them.

Meanwhile, two police detectives slowly put the two of them together with some unsolved murders, and a born-again abusive husband makes a sudden and unnerving appearance. The surprise for me in the film is Tom Bastounes as an overweight cop who befriends Macdonald's character and is a warmly endearing presence, clear if unsuccessful in his intentions, while all the other characters swim in a kind of foggy mystification that keeps us guessing about where it could all possibly be going.

Shot in Chicago under dismal winter skies, where blue-green is the dominant color, this oddly misnamed film is quirky and slow, though not without its moments, some of them a bit self-conscious as Keaton and Macdonald dispose of a Christmas tree by burning it in a harvested cornfield. The writers go entertainingly far out on a limb but didn't find a good ending for their effort. The DVD has a short making-of documentary.

"The Merry Gentleman" is a fine movie that deserves your support. It has a well-wrought, intelligent script you haven't seen before filled with complex, interesting characters. And, as the story unfolds, you are given glimpses "like flickering candles" into their personalities. Shown only enough to care, be enthralled, and glean some understanding, you are then left to come to your own conclusions about each character's actions and inner motivations. The effect is a mysterious, enigmatic story that mystifies and thoroughly entertains. In short, "The Merry Gentleman" makes you feel and makes you think, and isn't that what a fine film should do?
Michael Keaton, who also plays a contract killer in the film, makes his directorial debut with this production. He is to be commended for choosing such a fine script and so beautifully bringing it to life. As director, he seems totally focused on doing justice to the characters and the story. It is a fine first film, and I hope there will be many more. It is also to his credit that he chose Kelly Macdonald for the film's leading role.
Ms. Macdonald's performance is a study in what fine acting should be. Her character has wonderful internal integrity and evokes genuine empathy. She doesn't miss a beat in the film, and her sure, unaffected mastery of her role makes it look easy. Well, it isn't, and her work is of the highest order. Include Mr. Keaton's fine acting and directing and the outstanding work of fellow actors such as Tom Bastounes, Guy Van Swearingen, Mike Bradecich, Debbie Burns, Darlene Hunt, and others; and you have great film you won't forget and will want to watch again.
As you can tell, I liked this film. I liked it because I like dedication to the art of making the best film one can. "The Merry Gentleman" strives to be the best film it can be because of the care and love the director, cast, and crew put into it. Thanks for a fine film.

A quiet, powerful story of two people with different cases of post-traumatic stress. One is a suicidal killer, the other a battered wife who is afraid to trust anyone.
Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) is really good at being a hitman and is also an excellent tailor with his own store.
Frank is conflicted: think "Gross Point Blank" middle aged and without comedy.
He also methodically kills any possible witnesses. Frank's hit jobs are not at all emotional, they are done with a sense of workmanship and inevitability. Even one of Frank's victims said he was wondering when he would finally come.
Frank meets Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) in person after she saw him from afar trying to commit suicide after a technically well executed hit job. It's likely he has come to kill her but he collapses outside her door with pneumonia. She takes him to the hospital and then spends Christmas day with him there.
Kate has been trying her best to stay away from prodding questions and to remain alone because she has been badly beaten by her policeman husband and has left him to start a new, safer life.
Kate doesn't realize that Frank is the hitman. He is at least as alienated and closed off as she is and she somehow feels some safety in his quiet presence. He asks no prying questions and seems as alone in the world as she is. They bond over little unspoken kindnesses and events of everyday life.
Frank and Kate slowly develop a solid companionship together. He is quietly sensitive to her and tries to take care of her.
Kate's husband finds her and terrifies her again. Unfortunately for him, Frank finds out.
The apparent suicide of Kate's husband brings unwanted attention to Frank from the police. A policeman who has been interested in Kate (without success) informs her that Frank is probably the hitman and likely also killed her husband.
Frank must leave and he does leave,as much for her as himself. But he does not kill himself or anyone else as he leaves.
The Merry Gentleman

The caroling reference in this movie should have been to "Silent Night" rather than "Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." That's because both nascent romances in this film are marked by long, brooding silences. Man and woman sit in the same darkened room, but exchange only sporadic, terse clichés - making them look like the isolated figures in a Hopper painting.

By contrast, the movies of the 1930's were usually marked by rapid, witty exchanges - by words that tickled upwards like champagne bubbles. There should be a happy medium somewhere between such unrealistic loquacity and the suppression and taciturnity of films such as this one. Neither is how people really try to get to know each other on a first date or in a developing relationship.

It's also a bit difficult to understand in general why both of the lead male characters in this film - police detective and hit man - might be attracted to the young Irish secretary. Yes, she's pretty and suggests innocence. But her innocence isn't very interesting apart from one early scene where we see her standing enchanted with the falling snow - while other people are just rushing home in it, indifferent to its magic. After that though, her naiveté seems heavy, downcast, and somewhat implausible in this day-and-age. We later learn that there is a reason for her weighted demeanor - that she in fact has baggage. But this doesn't serve to make her any more interesting.

There is also a layer of impressed religious belief running through this film that sometimes seemed to threaten to cross the line into preachy religiosity. It occurred to me that this might be one of those films sponsored by a religious denomination to subtly promote its beliefs. But no, this is apparently a film project spearheaded by Michael Keaton, the star, without any ulterior motive.

In spite of this film's overall tendency to drag a bit under some unseen, oppressive weight - there still is good reason to check it out. While most female characters we get in films nowadays have to be saucy, sassy, and kick-ass - it is refreshing and startlingly different to see a young woman of simple goodness.

Then there is the element of suspense created by the predicament the hit man finds himself in vis-à-vis the woman who might be able to implicate him in a murder. We get a low-key version of the tension generated between killer Richard Crenna and blind woman Audrey Hepburn in the 1960's film "Wait Until Dark." Which impulse, which necessity will win out in the killer - his commitment to his profession - or his tender attraction to a young woman?