JULIET, NAKED
US, 2018, 93 minutes, Colour.
Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O’ Dowd, Phil Davis,
Directed by Jesse Peretz.
This is a much nicer film than might have been anticipated. It is a romantic comedy but with a difference, not the least being that the central couple are in middle age. And, it is not always predictable. And, it is based on a novel by Nick Hornby, best known to filmgoers for versions of his High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch. Whatever the difficulty that his central characters experience in those stories, there is always a niceness.
While there are some sequences in the US, the main action takes place in Britain, with filming around Ramsgate and Margate, attractive looks at seaside towns and the beaches.
The premise has more than a little of the ridiculous and plays this up enjoyably. Duncan and Annie have been living together for many years, mutually agree not to have children. She is the daughter of a historian in their seaside town and taking over the management of the museum he set up, continuing his legacy after he died. Duncan, on the other hand, is an enthusiastic teacher of literature at a local college.
But… he has an obsessive devotion, more than number one fan, records, posters, concert programs, memorabilia covering his walls, for an American singer who was popular in the 1990s but disappeared from sight, Tucker Crowe. Fortunately for Duncan, he can share with his fans on his website, a great deal of adulation going on. When Duncan is sent an original studio setting of one of the songs, Annie, not the least bit interested in the singer and getting more and more exasperated, posts an anonymous comment on the site. And who should respond to it, agreeing with its negativity, but the singer himself, Tucker Crowe!
Annie is played by Rose Byrne, Duncan by Chris O’ Dowd.
Because of all the posters and photos, the audience knows that Tucker Crowe is played by Ethan Hawke. Gradually, his background is filled in, the initial success, his band, a crisis concerning a daughter, his alcoholism, lost years, mixed relationships, but living on a property with his ex-wife with access to his young son (an engaging).
Tucker also has a daughter in London and he comes to London with his young son for the birth. Since the initial posting, Tucker and Andy have been involved in email correspondence, able to express their feelings online it than in reality.
Yes, Tucker does go down to the seaside town. Yes, Annie is intrigued by him and falls for him. Yes, Tucker who tends to be dishevelled and offhand, responds pleasantly even though he has a heart attack and is hospitalised. But, what about Duncan who has been beguiled by one of the teachers and abandoned Annie? How will he respond to the real Tucker Crowe? That is part of the enjoyment of the film.
In the meantime, with news in the US that Tucker has had a heart attack, the various members of his extended family turn up. And, in the town, Annie has curated an exhibition, Summer of 1964, with the insistence of the opportunist Mayor (Phil Davis). He even persuades Tucker to sing and play the piano.
No, it doesn’t work out exactly as we might have anticipated – but all the better for it and, indeed, is nicer.
1. The title? Expectations? Different?
2. The popularity of novels by Nick Hornby? Film adaptations? American-British? stories?
3. The British seaside, the beach, the town, streets and houses, the Museum, the exhibition? The contrast with the London, the Tate Museum? Hospital? And the contrast with
the American home sequences?
4. The musical score, the music of Tucker Crowe, his lyrics? From the 90s?
5. Duncan, his obsession, his room, the posters, the tapes, the concerts? His knowledge of detail? Listening to the songs? What they meant to him? His website, the fans? His relationship with Annie, her not liking Tucker Crowe, opening the tape, listening to the demo, not liking it, Duncan’s reaction? Annie posting the adverse comment on the site? Tucker and his response?
6. The introduction to Tucker, not particularly likeable, yet Ethan Hawke and his genial presence? Audiences liking him despite himself? His life, the music, as a bassist, the 90s, the band, his leaving? The groupies, his use of drinking and addiction, the birth of grace, his abandoning her, disappearance? The passing of the years? London, Lizzie and her mother? Lizzie coming to the US, the University? His twins and their mother, Jackson and his mother, ordinary life, the royalties, his work in the garden, wanting to bond with his son?
7. Lizzie, her life, the University, visiting her father, connecting with grace? Are being pregnant, going to London, giving birth, Tucker present, the musician father, his playing, abandoning Lizzie, paralleling Tucker?
8. The communication by emails, Revelation through text rather than spoken word? Tucker at this stage of his life, Annie and her relationship with Duncan, no children, working at the Museum, memory of her father, the pompous Mayor, Duncan and the approach of the teacher, coming onto him, the relationship?
9. The mayor, pompous, Summer of 64 exhibition, his ambitions, the opening, his speeches, celebrating Tucker, inviting him to play?
10. Tucker arriving in London, the appointment at the Tate, his heart attack, hospital? Everybody coming from America, the extended family, the chaos? Any observing? Leaving, but bonding with Jackson?
11. Tucker and his recuperation, going to the town, the home, Jackson and the sharks, the beach? The encounter with Duncan on the beach, his reaction, the visit, wanting to check Tucker’s passport? The meal, the outpouring of his feelings about Tucker, Tucker’s reaction?
12. The bond between Tucker and Annie, Annie in Jackson, her wanting children? Duncan and wanting a reconciliation?
13. Annie, the beginnings of a sexual encounter, Jackson interrupting? The lost opportunity? The year passing, the communication between the two, coming to London, meeting again, the future?
