The Merry Gentleman

Plot synopsis:
A delicacy of tone transforms Michael Keatons The Merry Gentleman from what might have been a pedestrian tale into a beautifully romantic fable. Directed, photographed, and performed with a precision and style that mark a distinctive directorial debut, the film begins with a woman who leaves an abusive relationship to begin a new life in a new city, where she forms an unlikely and ironic relationship with a suicidal hit man (unbeknownst to her). Enter a worn, alcoholic detective to form the third party in a very unusual triangle, and this dark, soulful, sometimes-funny story begins to unfold.Walking a line between the conventional and the idiosyncratic, Keaton creates a highly original yarn that has a quiet, sometimes-even-meditative quality, and frames a more-straightforward story about a womans accidental involvement in a murder investigation. Wonderfully composed and enacted, The Merry Gentleman features Keaton in the lead role opposite a gifted leading lady, Kelly Macdonald, who is at once enigmatic and iconographic in her portrayal of a woman trying to find her way in a cold world. The cop, played by Tom Bastounes, is a disheveled embodiment of male cluelessness and relentless pursuit. Together they are lonely figures in an urban landscape, one that exemplifies the isolation and need for personal relationships that we all carry with us.Lonely guy Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) meets cute with his addled neighbor, Kate (Kelly MacDonald), under a fallen Christmas tree, and these two bruised souls gradually begin to approach something like redemption under each other's caring eye. Of course they have their problems: Frank is actually a suicidal hitman and he's being stalked by an alcoholic cop (Tom Bastounes) with romantic designs on Kate, who he suspects saw Frank commit the murder he's investigating. Frank begins to plan another hit, but just when, why, or who maybe not even he knows. It's a remarkably promising directorial debut for Keaton (BATMAN, BEETLEJUICE) who shows a generosity and wisdom in letting the amazing Macdonald (Josh Brolin's wife in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) keep her Scottish accent and voice most of the dialogue in the film. A captivating screen presence, MacDonald gamely embodies an array of conflicting but complementary tics and emotions, which--like Frank's--are caught between the need to conceal the truth and the just-as-pressing need to express it. Bobby Cannavale (THE TEN) is good in his big scene as Kate's abusive cop-husband, and the ending is almost as surprising as the breadth of artistry Keaton shows behind the camera, making it a surprise sleeper all the way. [D-Man2010]

Tags: murder

Review:
It makes me go all weak in the knees, sends my heart aflutter.She is the reason I went to see "The Merry Gentleman." I like Michael Keaton, too, and thought his performance in "Game 6" (2005) was exceptionally good.
I wasn't too sure how good a director he would be, but after watching "The Merry Gentleman," I can safely say that Keaton is a very good filmmaker.The story of "The Merry Gentleman" could very well point to all the trappings of a formula: An abused woman inadvertently sees a hit man and then he befriends her with obvious intent.Given filmmakers' penchant these days to turn this sort of subject matter into yet another Tarantino or Guy Ritchie clone, the calmness with which "The Merry Gentleman" unfolds comes as a wonderful surprise.I realize that film-goers who want to see every hit man movie turned into another fast-talking Tarantino imitation might be sorely disappointed or even bored by "The Merry Gentleman." This film takes its time.
This really is a splendid character study, paced deliberately so that we would get to know, understand, appreciate and grow to love these people.This film relies on its two main characters, Frank (Keaton) and Kate (Macdonald), to carry the film.
An unconventional love story as Frank and Kate, a depressed professional killer and the mousy abused woman, slowly work their way through each other lives, through the uncomfortable moments, trying to steal moments they can share.Keaton could very easily have played Frank for a chuckle or two, given him a frenetic edge, as he often has in films.
Keaton finds the fine edges to his character and realizes there's more to reveal in what Frank doesn't say than in what he does.
This is truly a finely-tuned and subtle performance by Keaton - one of his very best.Macdonald is completely charming as Kate.
Macdonald never disappoints.There are two fine supporting performances - from Bobby Cannavale as Kate's husband, and Tom Bastounes, as a cop investigating Frank's killings and also harboring a crush on Kate.
His dinner scenes with Kate contain terrific bits of acting.At a time when "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Terminator Salvation," "Public Enemies" and other Hollywood films gain all the attention, it is too bad that a film such as "The Merry Gentleman" seemingly just gets lost in the shuffle.This is a gem of a film.
But is for those seeking a tender, sweet, deeply moving, at times startling film about deeply damaged people and their attempts to find some sort of solace, happiness and meaning in this life.
Keaton doesn't rush anything in his story of a lonely young woman (Kelly McDonald) who is the locus of desire for several men, including her ex-husband (a great Bobby Cannavale), an alcoholic cop, and a suicidal hit-man (Keaton).
Taking place during two of the loneliest holidays (Christmas and Valentine's day), The Merry Gentleman is also a great religious film, movingly detailing McDonald's faith as she in turn becomes a figure of worship for men with a variety of intentions.
But in that half hour, if we're paying attention, we get more insight into the depths of a man's soul than if we had just read his 500-page autobiography.The Merry Gentleman is billed as a crime drama, but that label hardly does it justice.
And finally, we have the main character's ultimate secret which is so cryptically presented that it may take you a few days of introspection before you figure it out.This film is very much like a challenging poem whose meaning is elusive at first glance but whose mood & style sinks into your mind over time.
One of the characters says something like "Ghosts and angels are the same, except ghosts are haunted while angels are blessed." OK, it may not mean much at first, but by the end of the film the significance is absolutely beautiful.Which brings me to the cinematography: absolutely beautiful.
I can honestly say that I cannot think of a finer directoral debut than Michael Keaton in The Merry Gentleman.I won't even get into the first rate acting, the haunting musical score, or Katie's adorable accent.
The Merry Gentlemen has the makings, and perhaps even the trappings, of a predictable neo-noir involving a hit-man (Michael Keaton), a detective (Bastounes) and the woman that they're both eying (Kelly MacDonald), and the elements of crime floating all about.
But Keaton brings to the table as a first-time director an absolutely unbreakable grasp of what makes the scene(s) work from an actor's stand-point.
She's so vulnerable and adorable, so keen on how her character should be in every moment, as someone who's fragile, been messed with by her husband, but wants to have her space while at the same time being friendly to both the lonely hit-man and the desperate cop.
He, too, makes a mark playing off both MacDonald like at the restaurant or Keaton in a pivotal scene at the tailor.There's another actor I should also credit, though at the moment I forget his name: he plays MacDonald's character's husband, and he appears out of the darkness in a scene, a recovering abuser with a newfound Jesus addiction who tries to win back his wife's heart as she holds a knife to him.
Kelly MacDonald is especially effective, but so is Michael Keaton who manages to bring some convincing emotional reality to the hit man genre despite having directorial duties to perform as well.The pace is slow but it's rich with detail and nuance to the point you'll feel as if you're really there.
The Merry Gentleman marks Michael Keatons Directorial debut by chance due to the sudden illness of screenwriter Ron Lazzeretti who was originally slated to Direct.
Keaton also stars as Frank Logan, a depressed hit man, alongside Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) a woman who has just escaped from an abusive relationship.
As the plot unfolds, Frank and Kate end up mysteriously crossing paths, which spawns an unconventional, often uncomfortable and strained romance between these two mixed up individuals from different worlds.Keaton's first shot at direction does everything but fall into a "Hand It Over".
For me it took a good fifteen minutes after the picture ended before everything clicked and I was blindsided by the sheer brilliance of what I had seen; deep themes rich in symbolism of religion and redemption and the overall feeling that Keaton felt no responsibility as an artist to spell it out for us.Performances all around play it safe but are always believable and gratifying to watch.
Supporting cast gets the job done and Bobby Cannavale delivers a poignant, gripping and short-lived scene stealing performance as Kate's boyfriend.The question that will remain on many of our minds is, "what exactly is the fine line between complete obscurity and masterpiece, and did Keaton cross it?" That's for each of us to decide individually, but it is in the opinion of this reviewer that said line is imaginary.
Michael Keaton played a really good hit man, and the movie style I thought was a throwback to the 1950's era movies that were crime related.
I also thought Michael Keaton did an admirable job of directing himself in the movie, and providing his cast with opportunities to share the stage with him and also have a good performance.
unsatisfying ending"The Merry Gentleman" is a very strange film.
It also is a very unsatisfying one because I liked so much of it and the film's ending really did not deliver.The film is about an unlikely friendship that develops between a suicidal assassin (Michael Keaton) and a woman, Kate (Kelly MacDonald), who has been abused by her partner.
Frank Logan (Keaton) is a hit man and he suspects Kate (MacDonald) can place him at the scene of his last hit.
This is Michael Keaton's first attempt at directing and since I enjoyed the movie, I'd say he did a good job of it.
By the time I got half-way through the film, I still didn't have much of an idea of what the central motive of either character was, especially Michael Keaton, and after awhile, I began to stop caring.
Michael Keaton plays a professional hit-man, though we never know for who, or why, or even anything about his targets.
He is suicidal (the way his first attempt is foiled is practically out of a Buster Keaton comedy), but I would think that a character who was a professional hit-man would come up with far simpler and effective methods to off himself than the ones he attempts in the movie.
Even in a scene in a hospital scene that appears to be inserted into the film to try and give the audience some idea of who this character is, we still get nothing...and that nothing takes a whole lot of time to get to.
All I can say is that it involves yet another convenient coincidence involving a business card to a local hotel.Kelly McDonald, a fine actress, is really the lead of the film, but even here the writer didn't give her character much logic to work with.
Obviously not wanting to jump into any new relationships due to her abusive past, she rejects the advances of a few of her new co- workers, but then inexplicably falls for Michael Keaton's character after one brief run-in, who, in their first meeting, comes off as a bit, well....creepy.
In the end, it seems like the film really didn't know what it wanted to be; sometimes a gritty drama, sometimes a Billy Wilder comedy, sometimes a teary melodrama, and sometimes a Basic Instinct-type thriller.
You used a body double and that was a big let down.The other actors: Nice ensemble who all worked well and off one another.Okay, a woman sees a man on the top of a building after he's just made a hit.
2. The DVD cover photo.Watch this movie because Michael Keaton did many satisfying things creating and telling the story.
It is evident that Keaton is a sensitive director, and daring in the sense that he does not try to hide this fact.The characters of the movie have depth.
Where this movie stands out from the usual fare is that it does not try to build up a story or a narrative, instead the characters go with the flow with no attempt to explain any quirks along the way.
Which is how life actually is!Kudos to Keaton for bringing out such a wonderful film.
"I'd say we've been pretty good for one another," Kate (Kelly Macdonald)Well, not quite, but that statement is consistent with naïve young Brit Kate's cluelessness since she's talking to an accomplished assassin, Frank (Michael Keaton), whom she recently befriended and believes to be a good Samaritan.
But that sense of being just a bit out of it is characteristic of Michael Keaton's first directorial effort, The Merry Gentleman, as well.I could feel Keaton struggling to offer a thriller in the David Mamet tradition (without his caustic language) with minimalist dialogue and exposition and a concentration on character.
Without Mamet's poetic language, Keaton is left with spare dialogue that barely explains the motivations for abuse and murder involving more than one character.It is, however, mostly Kate I wanted to know, and I was not fulfilled because of her limited capacity to speak loud and clear.
Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) escapes from her abusive policeman husband Michael (Bobby Cannavale).
Professional assassin Frank Logan (Michael Keaton) is becoming suicidal.
She befriends Frank over a Christmas tree, not knowing his real job.It's a sad, slow march in the first half.
Combine it with an actor who apparently wants to make one of those films you can tell is specifically created for Oscar award nomination and ends up being cliché and simplistic and you get cliché, simplistic, and unrealistic.At times it did work.
Likewise, Michael Keaton the retired hit-man love interest out to do one last job is unengaging and wooden.
One character is a hit-man, played by director Michael Keaton.
The other is Kate, a woman fleeing a past of abuse, played by Kelly MacDonald.Unfortunately, there's nothing here to rejuvenate the classic elements such as the nice-guy- hit-man who is poorly socialized.
Everybody will root for poor Kate to get her life on track after a bad relationship, I couldn't help but feel it all tied up a little nicely for her.There's just nothing terribly interesting about this plot or the characters to make me care.
The Merry Gentleman is one of the most patient and subtle American films I've seen in some time.
This film is not about plot, suspense, mystery, but about two people and their relationship.Frank Logan is a hit man.
We know Frank Logan kills others during the film.
In this film his being a hired killer is only a device to meet the character Kate.
That we don't look at him as a hired killer, don't think of him like that, is the genius of him happening to be one.Kate Frazier starts the film leaving her husband.
Of course, Frank was on that roof to shoot a man that worked in the same building as Kate.
Frank and Kate actually meet when he helps her bring her Christmas tree into her apartment building – a scene that may have been a little forced.
Well, that can't be explained but it comes to a head when Kate's husband shows up.What is so enjoyable about the film is having way more knowledge than the two characters.
These are the questions that Keaton allows a very moody atmosphere to hide in the back of our heads while he tells and portrays half of the Frank and Kate friendship.It's always interesting when a long-time actor directs their first picture.
It's safe to say that Keaton was never in a film reminiscent of The Merry Gentleman.
His acting mimics the patience and mood of his filming, everything is allowed to happen in its own time.The film makes a point of showing Kate as looking like an angel when Frank looks down at her from the rooftop.
In the film, we'll question whether these characters are real at all, and what does it means if they're not.
I felt it in "The Girl in the Cafe," and I'll never forgive Javier Bardem for keeping his vow in "No Country for Old Men." "The Merry Gentleman" could be titled "Who will Protect Kelly?" Will it be the cop, the hit-man (Keaton) even her "born-again" husband?-they all want to protect her.
It was slow paced but I give it credit that it wasn't your ordinary Hollywood movie that would've had the characters jumping into bed, or massive explosions to buildings and cars.The ending was the worst.
Having Michael Keaton's character just walk off into the sunset left too many questions unanswered, which I hate in a movie that takes the cheap way out.
in fact, no, the second it was clear that she was having trouble with the tree, you had to know Frank was going to end up showing up to help her out.
A different role for Michael Keaton, as a contract hit man..
As the movie opens we see a brief scene of a man and woman in the bedroom, and it is clear that he has some anger issues, and at least this time, probably not the first, he has hit her.
He will eventually track her down, after a long time, and this plays into the overall thrust of the story.Kelly Macdonald is the young woman, Kate Frazier.
She doesn't think too much of it until the police come to talk to her, someone in her building had been shot about that time (we actually see the hit, he called the man's phone to get him at the right place for a clean shot) and they suspected it might have been the same man she saw (it was).Michael Keaton is Frank Logan, who works as a tailor in an upscale shop, but his main occupation is contract hit man.
His skill serves well when Kate's abusive husband finally tracks her down.This isn't a very savory topic, but overall Keaton and Macdonald make this a drama a cut above most.
There is a lot of irony to the title "The Merry Gentleman" about a hit man named Frank Logan.
It is also curious to think of this film as a "thriller." Instead, it is an insightful character study of two people who are apparently deeply in love but cannot connect, due to extenuating circumstances.Those circumstances have to do with the suicidal nature of the hitman Frank Logan.
Frank is "saved" by Kate (Kelly Macdonald) when he is about to jump off a building.
Some of the best scenes are the quiet ones, such as the initial meeting of Kate and Frank when she has fallen under the weight of the large Christmas tree she has purchased; a conversation in the hospital where Frank is recovering from pneumonia; and a meeting in church where neither character looks at the other for the entire sequence.The film's ending failed to resolve basic questions about the main relationship of Frank and Kate.
The screenplay was filled with interesting details about the characters, which makes "The Merry Gentleman" a film worth viewing on multiple occasions..
Fleeing an abusive relationship Kate Frazier heads to Chicago and gets a job as a receptionist; one day as she leaves work she looks up at the falling snow and sees a man, Frank Logan, standing on a rooftop about to jump; she screams and he falls backwards onto the roof.
This is far more a character study as we get to know Kate and Frank as they in turn get to know each other and their secrets.
Kelly Macdonald is delightful as Kate; nicely capturing her character's nervousness.
Michael Keaton is equally good as Frank the suicidal hit man he also does a fine job directing; I wouldn't have guessed this was his first film in that role.