Words by JANE CROWTHER
Paul Schrader continues his ‘Man in a Room’ treatise with this examination of guilt, repression, legacy and the big questions of life: why do we exist? Is change possible? They are themes that have dominated his work for decades and so his latest, following a college professor (Jack Huston) who is hiding a past indiscretion, labouring under the pressure of a controlling father and punishing himself for his proclivities, stays reassuringly in his tried-and-tested lane for fans of his monastic oeuvre. Those looking for the much mused over change might find that the philosophical answer in Schrader’s case is a resounding no.
Dr. John Jorrison (Jack Huston) is writing a book on philosopher Spinoza, keeping his romance with colleague Becca (Sofia Boutella) at arms length and dodging the overtures of students who insist that ‘everyone is guilty of something’. When his ailing dad dies (Bill Pullman) the wake sets off a chain of events that uncover an incident of child molestation from John’s past, the pressure from his father to conform to a particular idea of a good and noble life, and sends the prof down a rabbithole of suicide ideation, gay cruising and what forgiveness might look like.
While Schrader may specialise in ‘God’s lonely men’ it seems his expertise does not extend to recognisable gay bars and interactions, or convincing flashback scenes – and his decision to have Spinoza himself (Karl Glusman) visit his protagonist seems hokey and cheap. Fortunately, he has Bill Pullman onboard to deliver authenticity as a prescriptive father who values ‘correctness’, Richard Gere popping up in a cameo to remind us of the genius of American Gigolo and Jack Huston bringing the weight of his own family legacy to the idea of living up to one’s forebears.
Schrader constantly threatens that each picture he creates is his last, but one has to hope that this is not the one the scribe of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and First Reformed bows out on. While it fits neatly into his canon it might be more engaging to see the filmmaker adhere to Heraclitus’ theory of everything being in constant flux and toy with some change himself.
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Images courtesy of NOORA FILMS
The Basics of Philosophy premiered at the 83rd Venice Film Festival