December 21, 2014 -- Writers are a breed apart from most people, since they can make something out of nothing. Those who can become wealthy and influential by writing novels are a very rare breed. They have given the world great works of art and inspired millions, but there is a downside to all this creative power sometimes.

This movie describes two such authors corrupted by the same creative power that makes them successful authors. One aspect of this creative power is that like many artists, writers feel that the normal rules of society don't apply to them. This has both negative and positive aspects. This movie describes yet another negative aspect of creativity related to personal relationships.

Philip Lewis Friedman (played by Jason Schwartzman of “The Darjeeling Limited”) is a young author who has just published his second novel and is working on a third. He had always kept his feelings bottled up inside, particularly his resentment towards those who doubted his talent. With his latest success, he decides to vent. He meets an old girlfriend who had told him his career goals were unrealistic and gives her an ugly piece of his mind.

Later, he meets an old college friend with whom he had shared his dreams. Both of them had planned to be successful writers. Philip boasts to his old friend about his success and berates him for not having achieved anything in his life, which hurts the man and makes him angry. Only after the conversation is over, and we see that the man is confined to a wheelchair, do we realize how heartless Philip has become. He feels empowered by telling his old friends exactly how much he resents them, and this starts him down a very dark path in his life.

A very successful writer, Ike Zimmerman (Jonathan Pryce of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” movies) likes Philip's books and invites him to visit. Philip is flattered that such a successful author would want to meet him. It turns out that Ike also likes the way that Philip flatters him. Both men are much alike and each brings out the worst in the other.

Ike invites Philip to his summer home in upstate New York, a quiet place where Philip can write. This appeals to Philip, who has grown weary of the noise and bustle of New York City, where he lives with his girlfriend, a successful photographer, Ashley Kane (Elizabeth Moss of “On the Road”). Ashley objects to Philip's plans to leave when it becomes clear this move could be permanent. Ashley has a big emotional investment in this relationship, but Philip seems all too ready to abandon her.

Philip's new surroundings don't stimulate his creative output, but Ike helps to secure him a teaching position at a nearby college so he can make some money. Gradually, it becomes clear that Ike has sabotaged all his past relationships with friends and family to end up utterly alone, and Philip is following the same path. Both Ike and Philip require emotional support from others, but they don't return that emotion. Instead they steal that emotion and use it to power their creative energies. This results in them using up and discarding the people who love them in order to further their careers. Because of this, the success they achieve doesn't make them happy.

This movie is built like a novel. There is a lot of narration (by actor Eric Bogosian of “Blade: Trinity”) which sounds like it is being read from a novel. Philip speaks much like he is reciting dialog from one of his novels. This is all very stylized and mannered, but it isn't all about Philip. There is a lengthy episode about Ashley Kane, how she is devastated by Philip's rejection, and how she puts her life back together with the help of her new pet cat.

In the end, Philip realizes his mistake and tries to return to his relationship with Ashley, but she has moved on, wisely, it appears. Philip also has a relationship with another woman that ends badly. Ike's daughter, Melanie (Krysten Ritter of “Veronica Mars”) is also being emotionally marginalized by her own father. The emotional destruction wrought by these men is piled high. Both Philip and Ike feed their egos by rejecting other people, but this also hurts them emotionally at the same time.

There have been many films, such as “The Artist” which heap a lot of praise on artists like Philip and Ike, but very few films like this one (“Inside Llewyn Davis” would be another) that show the darker side of the creative mind. The acting performances are excellent in this film and it is well written and directed. This film is so stylized and its main character is so emotionally stunted, it was hard for me to connect with the story, but at the same time I recognize it as a well-crafted film. It rates a C+.

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Copyright © 2014 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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