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closeNot brief enough, "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" purports to offer a candid and illuminating examination of male views on women, on sex, on relationships.
Instead, what this arid and arty exercise offers is the opportunity for a bunch of actors, many of them tethered to TV series, to deliver theatrical monologues pulsing with misogyny and narcissism. It's like second-rate Neil Labute.
Listening to, and recording, the interview subjects is a quiet, thoughtful graduate student - Julianne Nicholson's Sara - determined to pin the male psyche down for her doctoral thesis, like an insect collector with her specimens. The fact that Sara has recently broken off with her partner only adds to the tricky complexities of the project.
http://www.philly.com/Sara's ex is played by "The Office's" John Krasinski, who has adapted David Foster Wallace's book and makes his directing debut as well. His film is filled with static shots, subjective flashbacks, and editing at cross-purposes.
Nicholson radiates a bruised intelligence, and her scenes with one of her undergrads - played by the rascally British actor Dominic Cooper - are sexually charged. But mostly "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" is just one soul-searching soliloquy after another - the chance for veterans of TV cop shows, doctor shows and sitcoms to strut their stuff:
Look, Ma, I can do off-Broadway, too!
BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN
2 stars
Directed by John Krasinski. With Julianne Nicholson, Will Forte, Dominic Cooper, Timothy Hutton, Frankie Faison and Krasinski. Distributed by IFC Films.
Running time: 1 hour, 20 mins.
Parent's guide: No MPAA rating (profanity, adult themes)
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