JOE GOULD'S SECRET A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **
Stanley Tucci should stick to acting. As a director, he lets JOE GOULD'S SECRET run down like a tape player with a rapidly dying battery.
Although admittedly not as bad or as ambitious as his last movie, the audacious failure called THE IMPOSTORS, this latest movie of Tucci's hasn't much to recommend it other than its period sets. There is a sterling supporting cast (Patricia Clarkson, Hope Davis, Steve Martin and Susan Sarandon), but they are so underutilized that they hardly count. Imagine arranging for Steve Martin to be in your movie and then giving him a throwaway part. What a waste.
The movie, set in the 1940s, is based on a true story of a writer for The New Yorker, Joe Mitchell (Tucci), who finds an eccentric motor-mouth, Joe Gould (Ian Holm), who he thinks would make a wonderful subject for an article. This disheveled Bohemian spends his time in restaurants and art galleries begging, claiming that he is collecting for the "Joe Gould Fund." He says that he is working on an oral history of the city that already encompasses over a million words. The tome contains the random thoughts of the people he meets.
Ian Holm, who looks like Robinson Crusoe in a Goodwill suit, overacts with a vengeance. When a waitress complains about Joe's emptying an entire bottle of ketchup on his food, he jumps up on his chair and screams out, "I'm no ordinary person! I'm Joe Gould!" Holm's performance, although cute at first, quickly becomes repetitive and irritating. With each successive picture, Tucci increasingly encourages his actors to overdo it and aims too often for camp.
Yes, Joe has a secret, but, not only is it easy to guess, it's also not very interesting. The first half hour of the picture is worth recommending, but after that, you're better off giving up rather than staying with it. Like the Cheshire cat, the movie slowly fades away. But, rather than leaving only a smile, all the movie leaves are some pristine-perfect period automobiles and other set decorations.
JOE GOULD'S SECRET runs 1:44. It is rated R for some language and brief nudity and would be acceptable for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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