DON JUAN DEMARCO
A film review by Eric Grossman
Copyright 1995 LOS ANGELES INDEPENDENT
Don Juan DeMarco is the last of the great romantics. Although he has slept with exactly fifteen hundred and two women, it is his first love that truly has his heart. Without her, he does not wish to go on living.
Starring Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, and Faye Dunaway, DON JUAN DEMARCO is a small, romantic tale about love, sex, women and the relationship between a doctor and his patient.
Dr. Jack Mickler (Brando), a veteran psychiatric clinician who is on the verge of retirement, is sent to talk down a suicidal man wearing a mask who claims to be Don Juan DeMarco (Depp). After succeeding in talking him out of suicide, Mickler becomes Don Juan's doctor for a ten day evaluation to see if the young man should be institutionalized.
At first, all assume Don Juan to be disillusional. However, as Mickler listens to DeMarco's detailed, romantic stories, he becomes unsure whether or not this is the case. Don Juan's adventures include sword fights and duels, pursuing a beautiful woman whom he met while he growing up in Mexico, and his being sold into slavery where he was mistakenly placed in a harem with fifteen hundred women. Inspired by Don Juan's passions, Mickler begins to rekindle the fire in his own relationship with his loving but complacent wife, Marilyn. (Faye Dunaway).
Writer/director Jeremy Leven has chosen an understated tone for this film which borders on being limp. However, his dialogue is well written and he gives Depp and Brando plenty of breathing room.
What makes this role different for Brando is the tremendous subtlety he uses in playing a normal guy. Unlike Stanley Kowalsky or Don Corleone, Dr. Mickler is not larger than life but is just a man who wants to rediscover the "fire" that is now missing from his happy but dull life. Sub-titles are needed at times to understand him, but Brando combines warmness with quiet desperation and the result is a magnetic and surprising performance.
In his role as Don Juan, Johnny Depp once again proves himself to be a fearless actor who can handle almost any role. His face still looks too young for facial hair but his commitment to the part, as in all of his work, is one hundred percent and his acting is devoid of any self-consciousness.
Romance takes two and Faye Dunaway and Brando work well together. There is a feeling of chemistry between them and Dunaway has sufficient screen presence to balance Brando where as many other actresses would have been blown off the screen.
DON JUAN DEMARCO is a pleasant surprise and shows that Hollywood has not completely forgotten how to make romantic movies. It offers a gentle story with a heart, a sense of humor and superb acting.
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