Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem

6/20/2016

The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem

♥♥♥♥♥♥

1 Film Excess win:

Best Supporting Actor: John C. Reilly

2 Film Excess nominations:

Best Lead Actor: Kevin Kline (lost to Stephen Dorff for Somewhere)
Best Supporting Actor: John C. Reilly (won)

+ Best New York movie of the Year
+ Best Comeback Actor of the Year: Kevin Kline

The stars of Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini's The Extra Man on its festive poster

A young aspiring writer moves to Manhattan, where he finds housing in the apartment of an aging eccentric, who teaches him how to attend the opera for free, piss in the street without receiving attention for it and being an 'extra man', while they both gain a friendship.

Friendship is the true theme of Extra Man behind all the marvelously written and performed dialog exchanges between the vibrant leads, Paul Dano (L.I.E. (2001)) and Kevin Kline (Darling Companion (2012)) who, - together with John C. Reilly (Chicago (2002)) in a hysterical supporting role, - seem to have been created for these very parts. This is an intelligent film, which is refreshingly contrary to the 'fetishes' of contemporary society, (personified in the film by Katie Holmes (Mad Money (2008)), who is good as Dano's vegan love interest.)
The film is enthusiastically made, well-cast, well-written and really really funny. An example of this: Henry Harrison (Kline) announcing loudly with perfect seriousness to a waitress refilling his coffee cup: "Enough!" - Genius!
The Extra Man is an adaptation of Jonathan Ames' (Wake Up Sir! (2004)) same-titled 1998 novel, written by Ames and co-writer-directors and marrieds Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini (American Splendor (2003), both).

Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini: Girl Most Likely/Imogene (2012) - Wiig is great as another dysfunctional woman in Berman & Pulcini's unfocused fare
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

American Splendor (2003) or, Happily Unhappy Together

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: At least 0.649 mil. $
= Box office disaster
[The Extra Man premiered January 25 (Sundance) and runs 108 minutes. Filming took place in New York from February - April 2009. The film opened #54 in 2 theaters to an 18k $ first weekend, peaking later in just 33 theaters, grossing 453k $ in North America, (69.8 % of the total gross). Of its foreign markets, it was biggest in Italy with 143k $ (22 %). The unbelievably poor performance of the film in cinemas, as one of the year's best, is wildly disheartening to a movie lover. - But it hasn't spelled the end for Berman/Pulcini, who have made a TV movie and two features since. The Extra Man is rotten at 42 % with a 5.3 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Extra Man?
Any film you find masterful but which has been a critical and commercial disaster?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

6/20/2016

The Extra Man (2010) - One of the year's best films is this overlooked comedy gem

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