THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD

(Directed By Sean McGinly - USA, 2008 - 87 min.)

Review By Michael Ricciardi

“I LOVE THIS TOWN!” proclaims Buck Howard upon his arrival in every town on his 400-shows-a-year tour. These venues—never full or sold out--are all fading and second or third rate; the audiences are a collective reflection of himself—lack-luster, aging, un-hip, and enveloped in the nostalgia of better times…

The Great Buck Howard does dip repeatedly into nostalgia and sentimentality, but never wallows in it. This is perhaps due to the dynamic and eccentric personality at its center. ‘Buck Howard’ (played by John Malkovich) is not that likable a person when we first meet him; he is insulting to his personal assistant (the one law-school-drop-out Troy, played by Colin Hanks, is to replace), demanding, finicky, superstitious, and utterly convinced of his importance, and the greatness of what he does…which is performing the same mind-reading “effects” (Mentalists bristle at the word “trick”), show after show after show…Admittedly, some of them are still pretty good ones—especially his closing effect, in which he selects random members of the audience to hide his night’s pay—while Buck is escorted away—and which he always finds no matter the hiding place. This effect in particular impresses the dissatisfied, searching Troy, and even touches upon some deeper longing in him for Life’s “real magic”, some deeper mystery to believe in.

Buck is certain that his big comeback is just one good publicity stunt away, and so, he arranges a mass-hypnosis stunt that all the local Cincinnati TV outlets send crews to film. Ah, but Buck’s fortunes are seemingly foiled, as right in the middle of the stunt—with hundreds of folks fallen to the ground asleep at the same time—the camera crews are called away for a breaking news story about Jerry Springer. Buck is humiliated and angered by this (and he never seems to know who anyone famous since 1980 is), but somehow, footage of the incredible stunt gets shown on a local channel, gets picked up nationally, makes it on to Entertainment Tonight, and before you know it, Buck Howard is hip, again. Everyone wants him again—he even appears on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, proving his bona-fide “hipness” to all. In a triumphant return, he is even booked on the new Tonight Show with Jay Leno, but then, he gets bumped by the preceding guest--a prattling, self-absorbed Tom Arnold. Humiliated but not down, and with his revived popularity still riding high, Buck agrees to an offer to headline his own Vegas show, and so, his long-time-coming comeback dream is finally within reach.

Gradually, as told/seen through the eyes of the much younger assistant, we develop a grudging respect for Buck, even admiration. Buck is more complexly human than we may have supposed. And there is something more about him, a certain geeky, cheesy charm, that always makes people remember him, and audiences love him.

Written and directed by Sean McGinly, competently acted by all (the script does not demand any great emotional range from its players, apart from the sporadic, outrage of Buck), TGBH is not a great film, but it is a very good film, with many great moments in it (including a father-to-son talk between Colin Hanks’s Troy and his real life Dad, Tom Hanks).

The directing here is un-flashy, but seamless, and the writing is funny, human, and convincing. Certain threads of the story line are laid out, seemingly left behind, only to reemerge later in a somewhat surprising, but satisfying, form. The story mostly manages to skillfully side-step the potential clichés or conventional devices that other, less studied scripts might have fallen into (there is the obligatory romantic sub-plot, aided by the appealing Emily Blunt, as an advance press agent). But even when we hear the expected, newly wizened, wrap-up spiel (via Troy’s voice over narration), we are in a forgiving mood, for we have indeed been entertained.

The film slyly offers us the very thing that it portrays through its core character; there are a good number of cameos in this film, and these are mostly genuine show biz “has beens”. Even the once great staple of the 1970’s, day time, talk show, novelty act circuit—magician Ricky Jay—appears several times as Howard’s over-the-hill agent. There is one scene in particular, wherein Buck enters the back stage dressing room of a newly booked variety show, and is surrounded by many semi-familiar, half-forgotten faces—Gary Coleman, Jack Carter, that sound effects guy from the Police Academy movies...what’s his name…people that once entertained us and made us laugh. This scene is either (self-referentially) brilliant or hyper-egotistic (perhaps both). Seeing this, I was compelled to try to put a name to the face, or the face to a show, and failing, mostly. In the midst of this mise en scene, a great, single line (which I won’t quote here) is spoken by Mr. Carter. The look in his eyes as he speaks it embodies the true heart of this film.

The Great Buck Howard (co-produced by TOM HANKS and GARY GOETZMAN) is a loving homage to showbiz has-beens, and in particular, The Amazing Kreskin—“mentalist extraordinaire” and regular guest on the Tonight Show (and many other day time talk shows) during the 1970’s. Sometime in the early 1980’s, Kreskin disappeared from the airwaves (In my youth I was a big fan; I had always believed Kreskin to be dead--he’s not)…a fact represented by Buck’s continuous reminders to insufficiently deferential people of his “61 times on the Tonight Show…” (“…with Johnny Carson, not that twit they have now.”). By the end of the film, we know Buck like we know an old friend: always there, still performing--cheesy lines and all--still pleasing his fans with good, “old fashioned” entertainment. Buck really does love your town.