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Nobel Son Reviewed By Rich Drees
That is just the first of the numerous twists and turns that the story takes in Nobel Son, a dense and somewhat overly plotted dark comedy that practically dares audiences to keep pace with its swiftly moving, serpentine screenplay. Unfortunately, Nobel Son becomes too devious for its own good, trying too hard to outwit its audience and ultimately collapsing under its own cleverness.
Barkley lives in the shadow of his renowned scientist father Eli (Alan Rickman). An off-the-charts genius, Eli thinks that his high intellect gives him the excuse to be rude and egomaniacal and to bed any young, nubile co-ed who happens to cross his path. As his wife Sarah (Mary Steenburgen) explains at one point, “The genius part of his brain has swallowed up the civilized part of his brain.” Eli only becomes more insufferable once he is nominated for a Nobel prize. But while on his way to the airport to join his parents for the ceremony in Oslo, Barkley is kidnapped and held for the Nobel prize money as ransom.
To further go in to the film’s plot would spoil many of the hairpin curves the narrative makes. While some are more surprising than others, they come fast and furious and always are rooted in the way the characters are presented to us. That is until the third act, when the demands of the script begin dictating the actions of the characters more than the nature of the characters would dictate their action. The result is the entire last portion of the movie rings false compared to what has gone before and feels more of an attempt to make sure that the right people receive their comeuppance.
Making the most of their time together on screen is Bryan Greenberg as Barkley and Shawn Hatosy as his kidnapper Thaddeus. The two share an interesting chemistry that helps pay off a handful of the script’s twists. Things are further complicated between the two by Eliza Dushku’s improbably named poetess-turned-femme fatale City Hall, a role she plays with obvious relish.
Unfortunately, while his role written to suit his usual on-screen persona, Rickman never really gets much of a chance to cut loose. Rickman is an actor who could entertainingly chew on scenery for hours on end. Here, he seems to be just chomping at the bit, only sporadically getting the chance to play things to the hilt. |
A darkly funny thing happened to Barkley Michaelson on his way to
the airport. He was kidnapped.
Normally, this is the kind of film that will allow its ensemble cast
to shine, and the cast that Randall Miller has assembled brings much
potential for that to the table. Unfortunately, due to the film’s
inconsistent tone, they don’t all get a chance to really strut their
stuff. Particularly wasted are Danny DeVito in the role of an
obsessive compulsive and Ted Danson as the head of the university
where Eli teaches. While both roles have importance to the plot, one
would expect that as comic actors they would rate more screen time
than the brief cameos they were allotted.