Movie Review Max

Max (2002)

Directed by Menno Meyjes

Written by Menno Meyjes

Starring John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Leelee Sobieski

Release Date September 20th, 2002

Published November 4th, 2002 

There are problems inherent in dramatizing the life of any real person. But imagine trying to dramatize the life of a man who is considered the most evil person in history. The thought of making a movie about a man who so coldly and calculatedly orchestrated the murder of millions of people, not through war, but through genocide. War is one thing. Soldiers die in a war and are willing participants. 

Adolf Hitler's murder of Jews, gypsies, and countless others, an estimated more than 12 million people, during World War II was an act of pure hatred and incomprehensible evil. To dramatize the life of Hitler would mean an attempt to humanize this man whose history has borne out a monster on par with Satan himself. The movie Max from writer-director Menno Meyjes makes just that attempt, to humanize Hitler as a struggling artist whose gifts were recognized by many but never fully understood.

The Max of the title is Max Rothman played by John Cusack. Rothman, a former German officer who served in World War I, was an aspiring artist until he lost his arm in the great war. Now running an art gallery out of a converted train station, Rothman meets a young artist who shyly asks him to show his work in the gallery. The artist is a corporal in the German army who also fought in World War I and now lives in near poverty on an army base. 

His name is Adolf Hitler and though Rothman finds the kid to be a little odd and disturbed, he recognizes potential in Hitler's art and encourages him to go deeper and paint something that channels the rage that he exudes. Hitler would like nothing more than to support himself as an artist but he is also a German patriot who doesn't like the direction his country is taking.

The conversations between Hitler and Rothman about politics and art being related and the nature of both being one aim are intriguing but never fully explored. The ideas put forth in Max about art and politics can't be dealt with because the surface of the film is dominated by the fact that one of the men involved in this conversation is Adolf Hitler. It is inescapable; you can't watch Hitler, played by Almost Famous' Noah Taylor, without thinking, my god that's Hitler as an artist. It's too surreal to think of Hitler as anything other than the evil slimebag he obviously was.

That surrealism only turns further and further in on itself the more Rothman and Hitler talk. When Max offers to buy Hitler lemonade you can't help but think, a Jew is buying Hitler lemonade. As Rothman makes comments that would be ironic if the character knew what was going to happen, you can't help but chuckle at the surreal aspect of the statements. No doubt the ironic dialogue is intentional but that just calls attention to how surreal it is.

Cusack is one of my favorite actors of all time but he seems miscast in his role. He makes no attempt at an accent which I can understand. If he can't do an accent, he shouldn't, but everyone else in the film from Leelee Sobieski as Rothman's mistress to Molly Parker as Rothman's wife are doing some sort of vocal affectation which make Cusack's lack of accent all the more noticeable.

Taylor does what he can in a thankless role. He does evoke Hitler's most memorable traits as we remember them from historical footage. Particularly, he captures Hitler's insane rage that was fiery enough to scare an entire country into thinking he was a genius.

I did like Rothman's observation of Hitler's work, especially when Hitler showed Rothman his vision of the future, his drawings of the Swastika, the army uniforms and such that Rothman later refers to as kitsch. Essentially, Rothman thought Hitler was kidding or just putting on some kind of artistic act. Yet another point of irony.

History tells us that the Max Rothman character in Max is an amalgamation of a number of different men who attempted, and obviously failed, to mentor Hitler during his starving artist period. The fact that Rothman isn't a real person is yet another roadblock for Meyjes, whose drama hinges on audience sympathies being with Rothman. Knowing that this story is only vaguely near the truth negates the film's climax that, while beautifully shot by cinematographer Lajos Koltai, feels as false as history says it is. Where there should be poignancy there is a flat feeling of detached irony.

There is something too far out there in hearing someone tell Hitler he needs to get laid, or hey, Hitler, how are you, or hey, Hitler, let me buy you a lemonade. It's just too surreal for a drama and the fact that Cusack's laid-back, detached performance is laced with ironic dialogue that the character doesn't know is ironic only serves to further distance the audience from the material, making any sort of emotional involvement impossible. Max is a misguided effort, a film that is well shot but impossible to take seriously. -

Movie Review Martian Child

Martian Child (2007) 

Directed by Menno Meyjes 

Written by Seth E. Bass, Jonathan Tolins

Starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Joan Cusack, Sophie Okenedo, Oliver Platt, Bobby Coleman 

Release Date Novemer 2nd, 2007

Published November 1st, 2007 

I will never understand why Hollywood film studios spend millions to make a movie and then abandon it. Take, for instance, the new dramatic comedy Martian Child starring John Cusack. The film was completed in 2005. It sat on the shelf for two years before trailers for the film began appearing in early 2007. It was supposed to come out back in the spring, then the summer, then in the fall, and now as we tilt toward winter the film is dropped into theaters with little fanfare.

Despite a popular star and a good marketing hook, Martian Child is not unlike its poor misguided protagonist, a child who believes he's from mars. Abandoned, dropped into the world, forgotten.

How sad.

David Gordon (John Cusack) was picked on a lot as a kid. It was traumatic but it fueled his imagination and it led him to become a successful science fiction writer. His past and his vocation are the main reasons why his friend Sophie (Sophie Okenedo), a social worker, thinks he would be the perfect guardian for Dennis (Bobby Coleman).

Dennis is a strange little boy who believes he is from mars. He is afraid of the sun and so he spends hours in a box. He doesn't believe in earth's gravitational pull so he wears a weight belt wherever he goes. David is terrified at first, and not just because Dennis thinks he's a Martian, but eventually he agrees to adopt Dennis and an unusual family is born.

You don't need a map to see where this plot is leading. Each character, especially the supporting characters, are obvious signposts that guide the plot to the next obvious moment. You know when you meet Richard Schiff's officious social worker that he will be something of a villain who may try to separate the new family.

When you meet Harlee, the sister of David's late wife, you know that Amanda Peet would not have been cast in this role if she weren't going to play an important role in the plot, likely as David's love interest. The only supporting character with some breathing room is Joan Cusack as David's sister. Never portrayed as a villain in the film, Joan gets both voice of reason and comic relief moments. This allows her to riff a little and the interaction between Joan and his real life older sister is one of the minor joys of this predictable little movie.

As predictable and stunningly simplistic as Martian Child is it is also good natured and well intentioned. John Cusack brings his trademark likability to the role of David Gordon and you believe every moment of his interaction with this strange boy. Yes, he does pour on the schmaltz a few times but there is just enough classic Cusack disaffection and self deprecation to offset some of the sap.

Unfortunately, director Menno Meyjes knows no other way to direct this material than by the book. If you've ever read the critical work of the great Roger Ebert you are aware of the hack movie concept of the false crisis/false dawn, real crisis/real dawn. It's the hackiest of plot contraptions and it plays to clockwork efficiency in Martian Child. Even the novice filmgoer can mark the moment when the false crisis and real crisis begin and end and easily predict how they will resolve.

Martian Child is not a horrible film. Any movie with John Cusack will struggle to be truly awful. It is far from being a good movie however. It just sort of exists as a forgettable throwaway movie that will pass from theaters and the memories of the few who see it without leaving much of an impression. I still don't understand why New Line Cinema treated this film so poorly though. It's not a good movie but it's not Kickin' It Old Skool either.