Blind Date Review
Posted by Erik Luers on 10.03.2009
Good performances and good red wine.....
Stanley Tucci ... Don
Patricia Clarkson ... Janna
Thijs Römer ... Waiter
Gerdy De Decker ... Tango Dancer
Georgina Verbaan ... Cute Woman
Robin Holzauer ... Little Girl
Stanley Tucci’s new film, Blind Date, based on a previous film by the late director Theo van Gogh, is a small movie about two actors getting to do an acting exercise. Tucci and Patricia Clarkson play husband and wife (he owns a bar, she dances occasionally), who are still getting over the death of their young daughter. To put their minds elsewhere, the couple take out ads in the paper, personal ads along the lines of “woman looking for older man with no life,” and then meet up with one another, in character, at the bar. She may play a journalist and he may be a man with an interesting story to tell, etc. The two never let the reality of their lives come into play, but how could they? They cannot live depressed and empty inside forever, so they create false lives in which to build upon, for one night only at least. They are the players and the bar is their theater, and the man and wife delude themselves and the audience one encounter at a time.
Tucci and Clarkson must have jumped at this material, for it possesses an interesting challenge for the two thespians: play a character playing another character, without letting either fully outweigh the other. The movie is all subtext. By watching the couple play new characters, we look to see their true selves shine through — in one scene, Tucci plays a clueless blind man, and the way he carries himself is so hysterical and over the top that we can sense the fun and lighthearted man at his core. There is a pain evident here, quiet and suppressed, in each characterization, underlining every dialogue exchange. It’s not about what they say but what they try not to. They are constantly walking on eggshells, and God forbid one of them should crack.
So far, my description of Blind Date sounds rather dire and depressing, but, while it is not a light (what do they say?) comedy romp, it is not without its moments of sincerity and playfulness. The characters that are presented in every section (each scene ends with a fade to black, and opens with an expanding iris showing us the next personal) are visually happy, content people, at least on the surface. And in the case of their made up personas, it’s all about what’s on the surface. So what if it’s all a facade, a made up "put on a show and smile widely" presentation of who they really are?
Some may find blind dating to be another glorified form of window shopping. You meet once and decide within minutes as to whether or not you dare agree to a second date. How much of what your date is saying is true and how much sounds like nonsense? Are they attractive? Do they find you attractive? Blind dating (and perhaps first dates in general) are forums in which to judge and compare the other person to your needs, requirements, and expectations. Or maybe, just maybe, two people are looking to just have a good time. Still, the cynical approach may leave you with your guard up, and maybe that’s the proper way to go on a first/blind date. Therapy session over.
There are no second dates in Blind Date, however. Each character is used only once and then onto the next; the husband and wife would be ideal castmembers for sketch comedy shows, as they can slip in and out of one character’s skin with ease. This also goes for our two lead actors, the aforementioned Mr. Tucci and Ms. Clarkson. They allow each character their own identity, all the while maintaining the “true” people they are underneath. Even though the idea of these blind dates may at first seem like a cruel and malicious sick joke, the despair in the actors’ eyes, in their demeanor, allows you to understand. One of the later dates involves a man looking for a younger woman to take on the role of his daughter, and while that seems strange and a little too close to reality at first, we assume this is another part of the healing process, another way to cope. They can only avoid the problem for so long though.
Tucci, our director as well as our leading man and co-screenwriter, chose to film the entire movie in one building (the bar and the area behind it), and this proved to be a smart financial and artistic choice. No soundstage needed here. The confining bar where most of the story takes places gives off an Iceman Cometh vibe, proving that the bar is where people go to forget about their problems and enjoy their evening. It’s the perfect setting for a story about smoke and mirrors. It’s also dimly lit, and that too allows everyone to run and hide behind whoever they are pretending to be. When one of the bartenders opens up the curtains to allow in some sunlight, Tucci’s character quickly closes them. When he and his wife act out a scene on in a bumper car on a dance floor, the sunlight peers through the windows and the fun stops. Too many outside forces ruin the mood and the bubble in which our characters live.
The film may feel a little stagy and dialogue heavy, but it is never dull, and at eighty-two minutes, Blind Date never outstays its welcome. We get the point of the film almost immediately, and then we sit back, relax, and revel in the formula. It’s an anthology film with different takes on the same story. For young actors looking to perform something complex for a scene study class, I could see this movie providing a whole semester's worth. Each date ends on a different note, and each works individually and as part of the greater whole.
I have a few questions. How much time ellipses between each date? It would appear a week or two, but I'm merely guessing. Maybe this is a weekend occurrence for the couple. When Clarkson's character talks about her father being a conjurer, in a later date Tucci claims to be a conjurer himself. They are taking tidbits of information from each previous date and incorporating them into the next. Another question: do the other employees knows about this game between the two lovers? They must know something, as the younger bartenders enjoy partaking in games of musical beds with our two leads. I found myself wanting to know a little more.
I would like to commend Tucci for filming the entire movie (give or take a home video or two involving a little girl) with interior scenes. We do not know how our characters act in the outside world, in a world where they must deal with the death of their daughter, and maybe we shouldn't. At home Tucci grants them their privacy. But who are these characters, really? What's going on underneath? I guess it can be tough to tell on a blind date. Here is a film where we spend a lot of intimate time with two people, and then we question whether or not we know who they truly are. Have we been tricked all along? Listen to the daughter's narration. Her words inform us that we haven't. They are a couple wanting to live a lie, and in the process, their true character comes meekly to the forefront. Blind Date shows us two people who'd rather not be seen.
The 411: I've been giving a lot of films the score of seven out of ten recently, and perhaps that's just how September tends to be. With that said, Blind Date is very good for what it is. It's a sad but sweet film, one that looks at relationships in an optimistic light(this is, until the final five minutes when reality sets in). It's a tragic movie, a downer in some ways, but there's a lightness about the various dates that makes you smile. Maybe it's the performances by our two leads. You can tell that the actors enjoy working with this material, and we enjoy watching them perform it. It's a small movie, but a well thought out and cared for one.
