Review of Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) by Amheretojudge — 24 Jan 2019

Write Me And Write Me Well.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Heller's Scorsese-like invasion on literary world ensues chaos with equal sincerity where the stakes might not be white or black and life or death, but its pragmatic theme surely makes itWrite Me And Write Me Well.

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Heller's Scorsese-like invasion on literary world ensues chaos with equal sincerity where the stakes might not be white or black and life or death, but its pragmatic theme surely makes it look like one. The structure follows a typical textbook method, with the first act being the chase of the thrills and the rush of accounting yourself as an outlaw, while the second one challenged equally by the opposite force followed by the last one that dwells on the pitfall of our protagonist. And as often does these biographies ask for, the makers ought to highlight the time period by various montages that helps them fast forward and keep the pace persistent. Among many metaphors that offers a husky layer on the narration, personally I connected the most with the cat. From her down fall to her resisting her way up the ladder, she basically represents the inner soul of our protagonist.

And if considering the supporting characters, Welles that helps and befriends McCarthy from stage one has a powerful character on paper, she emits guilt out of McCarthy and that is one of the strongest emotion that the film has to deliver and with McCarthy's jaw dropping performance, she hits the ball out of the park. McCarthy has never been short on her range, she has delivered the peaks of both ends, and has come back and widen it once again overpowering her own previous work.

She can be the least serious person in the room and also be the most one, she can be intense with those dead eyes and hilarious in her imitations, she colors her face with pity and guilt and she can express sharp cunningness in her body language. She is in one of those elite group of actors, that can do both comedy and drama nonchalantly. And supporting her thoroughly on the screen is Grant in his version of a mean street guy.

To be fair, he has a much more cinematic role than McCarthy. McCarthy might be the brains of all, but she doesn't know how to utilize it at its peak, how to glorify each moment, how to be celebratory and be bratty, boasting her skills without any shame in her bones, this is where Grant comes in. He charges at the screen like never before, he is always the anticipated antic in the script, he has a buoyant and layered character that keeps engulfing us for more chaos.

There is no order in his rhythm, he can be the guilty pleasures of the tale, he is easily seduced and so are we in his realm. Their humorous equation and instant connection in their first encounter is a smartly written act but their last meeting steals all the attention, striking horns of screen, these two high calibered actors are giving one of their best work. Can You Ever Forgive Me? grows more intense as much as the characters takes things lightly, it's that fear that ticks behind the screen, the greatest armor of Heller.