‘Nobel Son’ better saved for cable
By: Sally Kline
Examiner Movie Critic
December 7, 2008
WASHINGTON — “Nobel Son” is no prize.
As co-written and directed by Randall Miller with headliner Alan Rickman, this black comic “thriller” attempts to be one of those derivative, cleverer-than-thou revels in violence and attitude that popped up too often in the post-Tarantino 1990’s.
Sure, there’s some perverse excitement to be found. Who can resist the tension of wondering whether or not someone’s thumb was indeed cut off? What about an elaborate action sequence involving $2 million in ransom money and a cute automobile speeding around inside of a mall? What’s not to like?
Well, the story’s many self-conscious twists make no sense. Meanwhile, its twisted characters become increasingly dumb and contemptuous as the convolution escalates. It’s a paradox: Somehow you can predict the narrative’s so-called surprises even though they hinge on behaviors from the various personalities that don’t ring true. Worst of all, there is no one in the movie worth rooting for after the sympathetic young protagonist Barkley (Bryan Greenberg) turns corrupt in its second half.
Rickman and two of his co-stars here, Bill Pullman and Eliza Dushku, also starred in filmmaker Miller’s more benign other 2008 release — about the rise of the California wine industry — “Bottle Shock.” This time, it’s not grapes but Rickman’s old acting shtick that seems to have grown sour. As he did in everything from the original “Die Hard” to the many Harry Potter movie, this frequently great British character actor plays yet another of his nasty jerks today. But now he exaggerates the type way too far in the name of humor.
His cruel, crude, greedy, adulterous and selfish chemistry professor, Eli Michaelson, has just won the Nobel Prize. Even if you buy that the accomplished genius could be this blatantly hateful, you can’t believe that a woman as smart and sweet as FBI forensic psychologist Sarah Michaelson (Mary Steenburgen) would have stayed married to him for so long. After the couple arrives in Sweden to pick up the award, they learn that their son Barkley has been kidnapped.
An elaborate scheme unfolds. It involves a deviously bright young “autodidact” (Shawn Hatosy), a darkly seductive girl-artist (Dushku), a disturbed obsessive-compulsive neighbor (Danny DeVito), and Sarah’s smitten law enforcement colleague (Pullman).
But it shouldn’t involve you — not unless you plan to see “Nobel Son” for free on cable some night of desperate boredom.
Quick info
“Nobel Son”
2 out of 5 Stars
Stars: Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenberg, Mary Steenburgen
Director: Randall Miller
Rated R for some violent gruesome images, language and sexuality.
Running Time: 102 minutes
