First time director, long time actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman brings us the story of Jack, a bumbling, slow, shy limo driver who meets Connie (Amy Ryan) an equally shy girl. They fall in love at the same time Jack’s friends Clyde and Lucy are breaking up.
I was looking forward to this film for a long time, thinking that Hoffman could easily do a great job directing a story like this. And although it’s a lovely film, with great acting, it left me a little bit disturbed and uncomfortable.
Jack is suppose to be either shy, misunderstood or just a hippie… I’m not exactly sure which. His persona changes from scene to scene, and for 3/4th of the movie, he never removes his winter knit cap, even on his first date with Connie (which he wears a shirt and tie, along with said winter hat). When Jack finally removes the hat during a strange love making session, we see that his hair is notty and dreaded. My reaction to this is confusion, as I’m not sure if it’s a sign of him being shy, a hippie, or just a moron who doesn’t know how to comb his hair.
Amy Ryan’s character, Connie is equally troubled, shy, and misunderstood, but their friendship and romance helps her character to grow, but does not in any way (I feel) help Jack’s character to grow.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we see the relationship of Clyde and Lucy fall apart, a beautiful couple with a long standing history of love, but also a long standing history of mis-trust. The characters, and the performances that the actors give are by far the highlight of the film, more so then the performances given by the Oscar winner (Hoffman) and Oscar nominee (Ryan).
