Final Portrait

Final Portrait finds writer-director Stanley Tucci patiently telling a quietly absorbing story, brought to life by a talented ensemble led by Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer.

Pleasant and detailed. Not for lovers of fast cinema. Geoffrey Rush is brilliant.

Nothing wrong with the performances by Rush and Hammer and the storyline has potential, but the Tucci directing kills any potential pay off for the viewer. He seems to be sampling every possible style of film making and failing at them all. A mostly inert film. The artistic process is completely flattened and in some cases reduced to a caricature. The only entertaining aspect of this film is Hammer's character continually having to call the airline to delay his trip home.

Pleasant enough time filler has echoes of THE KING'S SPEECH in tone and execution; while it has a certain lack of scope and ambition, Rush's surface-level but entertaining portrait of Giacometti ("Fuuuuck!") distinguishes and makes the film memorable, along with Shalhoub's enjoyable umpteenth variation on put-upon schlub. Hammer gives an uncharacteristically dull and "blank slate" performance; Tucci shows a certain workmanlike economy as a film-maker. An ideal 'Sunday matinee' film.

Some good acting from Geoffrey Rush. Beside that nothing rememberable. Seriously, I watched like a month ago and I can hardly remember anything about it.