Release Date: April 22, 2008
Rating:
2 ½
½ Rating:Starring: Frank Langella, Lili Taylor, Lauren Ambrose and Adrian Lester
Based on the Novel by Brian Morton
Written by: Fred Parnes and Andrew Wagner
Directed by: Andrew Wagner
Starting Out in the Evening is Andrew Wagner’s adaptation of Brian Morton’s lyrical novel about a writer in his twilight, featuring a fine performance by Frank Langella in the primary role of author Leonard Schiller. The film is a noble effort, but it misses the depth and the poetry of Morton’s book, presenting instead a radically simplified version of the story. Wagner is clearly a fan both of the book and of Frank Langella, but he is unable to do much beyond the surface of what could have been a rich and layered character study. There are many examples of this in the film, where Wagner makes passing references to elements from the book (such as Russell’s Comet) without integrating them into the story in a meaningful way. Similarly, the title of Morton’s novel, Starting Out in the Evening, has significance as being the title of one of Schiller’s unpublished novels – in the film, that title is never mentioned. Relationships throughout the story are simplified in the film to the point that much of their meaning from the novel is simply lost. I should note here that I do not mean to say that this is a bad film – just that there is a much richer story here that could have been told with the material and the cast.
Starting Out in the Evening is presented in an anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer that does a serviceable job of faithfully presenting a series of characters in various New York locations, mostly somewhat darker interiors. Given the low budget and brief schedule of the production, this is less a transfer of sweeping vistas, and more of an intimate portrait of people in close spaces with each other. As such, the transfer looks fine.
Starting Out in the Evening is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and a Stereo 2.0 mix, both in English. Adding the surround channels allows the music to move to the rear channels, and there is some use of directional effects to allow doors to open and close to the left or right rear of the viewer. But, as you might surmise, this is primarily a film about dialogue that happens in the front channels.
Starting Out in the Evening contains a commentary by Andrew Wagner and a pair of trailers, but that’s the extent of the supplements on the disc. As with the film itself, there is a lot more depth that could have been examined here. The voices of Frank Langella and particularly author Brian Morton are sorely missed.
Subtitles are available in English and Spanish. A standard chapter menu is included for quick reference. When the first disc is initially started, the viewer is presented with an optional series of non-anamorphic previews including Away from Her, Trade, Fierce People and Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, as well as an anamorphic trailer for Right at Your Door.
IN THE END...
Starting Out in the Evening is a well-intentioned film that presents good work by Frank Langella but misses the depth and complexity of the source novel. The director’s commentary included on the disc similarly stays on the surface. Fans of the book will likely have some reservations, but fans of Frank Langella will certainly enjoy his finely crafted performance here.
Kevin Koster
April 24, 2007.
