Proper Buttons

Rating: 6/10 (31 December 2006)

Greetings again from the darkness. This one sure looks and feels like masterpiece film-making. It has a tremendous cast, renowned screenwriter (Eric Roth), passionate director (Robert DeNiro) and a near fool-proof subject ... the birth of the Central Intelligence Agency. I believe these are the reasons many are rating the film so highly. As an avid movie goer, I can usually connect with at least one character in a film, especially a THREE HOUR one! Not here, this film treats the viewer unfairly. It requires us to think and pay attention and think some more. For what? There is no payoff. All we get is an empty story, numerous time frame jumps and a bunch of characters who all seem to be playing a part in a school play.
What prevents it from being totally ridiculous is the professional approach the cast takes. Only a couple of scenes are over the top, while most are actually so subtle that I found myself wanting to yell at the screen. Matt Damon is near robotic in his performance and when they show him walking, I couldn't help but think of 'Hands' in "Boston Legal". And what's with Angelina? Was she supposed to be 20 or 40? Couldn't tell most of the time. This film has more whispering than any Junior High history class and William Hurt takes mumbling to a whole new level. The manner in which Alec Baldwin's character just kind of appears from time to time made me think it was some SNL skit and what kind of casting puts Billy Crudup as a Brit? Aren't there sufficient working British actors to play this simple role? The rest of the cast is rounded out by DeNiro (appearing only a couple of times), Michael Gambon, Timothy Hutton, John Turturro and one all too brief scene with a very Italian Joe Pesci.
Sadly, all of this is not enough to save what could have been a mesmerizing tale of espionage and intrigue. It was cool to have legitimate news reels of Castro and JFK, but the film really sagged during the "movie" parts. Very disappointing.