Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2013

If Richard J. Lewis’s smart adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s tragicomic last novel seems imperfect, with motivations unexplained and the story told through observation rather than from inside the head of the irascible (yet somehow endearing) title character, well, it’s a pretty tough novel to adapt. But it gets much right. Paul Giamatti got a Golden Globe for his ferocious lead performance, and Dustin Hoffman is inspired as his cop dad. Rosamond Pike glows as Barney’s third wife, whom he meets during his marriage to his second (Minnie Driver). A bit of a sprawl and often frustrating, but well worth seeing.