Filmmaker Barry Levinson's adaptation of Philip Roth's 2009 penultimate novel, centering on the angst of an aging actor, stars Al Pacino as 67-year-old Simon Axler, who loses his grip on reality during a Broadway production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, deliberately taking a face-first dive into the orchestra pit. Recuperating at a psychiatric hospital, Simon is approached by Sybil (Nina Arianda), a patient who caught her wealthy husband sexually abusing their young daughter. Sybil saw Simon play a murderer onscreen and now wants to hire him to kill her husband. When Simon is released, he quickly retreats to his bucolic Connecticut home, but his peace-of-mind is shattered by the sudden appearance of Pegeen (Greta Gerwig), the thirtysomething daughter of old friends (Dianne Wiest, Dan Hedaya), along with the persistent Sybil. Although Pegeen claims to be a lesbian, she flirts outrageously with Simon, winding up in bed with him, much to the chagrin of two of her former lovers (Kyra Sedgwick, Billy Porter), who are stalking her. Pacino convincingly embodies the despairing, self-absorbed performer who cannot separate art from life—underscored by meetings with his agent (Charles Grodin) and Skype sessions with his psychiatrist (Dylan Baker)—but The Humbling is ultimately an awkwardly sexist tragicomedy that works better on the page. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (4 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a disappointing adaptation.] (S. Granger)
The Humbling
Millennium, 107 min., R, DVD: $19.99, Blu-ray: $24.99, Mar. 3 Volume 30, Issue 1
The Humbling
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