Official Synopsis:
Battling illness and unable to finish a novel that has taken him ten years to write, aging novelist Leonard Schiller is slipping into literary obscurity. Formerly a famous author, Schiller has been all but forgotten by the readers, colleagues and critics who once praised him. But when Heather Wolfe, an ambitious graduate student, convinces Schiller that her thesis could reintroduce his writing to the world, the reclusive writer is forced to confront his past regrets. Frank Langella delivers a career-capping performance as a man who must redefine his work - and his perceptions - in the twilight of his life.
  
Our Take:
The great thing about the independent film movement is that it gives people who deserve starring roles their chance to shine. You know, those guys you’ve seen in a hundred Hollywood films that always give a great performance but never get their chance because they “won’t get people in the seats.” Thankfully people like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are finally able to star in films and even getting proper billing. Starting Out in the Evening is the film that should make Frank Langella the star he deserves to be.

Frank Langella has been a working actor in Hollywood for a very long time, always playing smaller supporting roles, such as George Clooney’s boss in Good Night and Good Luck or Perry White in Superman Returns, and even an evil presidential advisor in Dave. Langella always gives a strong performance but is never really given the chance to shine. Starting Out in the Evening gives him this chance and he knocks it out the park.

He plays an aging novelist, Leonard Schiller. When he was younger he showed great promise but now has withered away into obscurity. Then he meets Heather Wolfe (played by Lauren Ambrose), a very outgoing grad student who wants to write her paper on Leonard. She loves his books and hopes to pull them out of obscurity so they can be known as classics. The more Heather learns about him the more she realizes he may not be the great author she thinks he is, and her blind ambition for the truth at times comes at the expense of Leonard. The film follows the two’s relationship as well as Leonard’s daughter Ariel, played by Lili Taylor.

Langella’s performance is just a gorgeous portrait of this aging writer. It’s one of those great performances were it isn’t a lot of flash or scenes where he’s screaming with emotional intensity but rather a much quieter one. A role where he transcends acting and just becomes this character of Leonard Schiller. While watching the film you forget every tiny role he’s played and you just see this old man still trying to figure things out in his late seventies.

This is one of the few filmgoing experiences that truly feels like you’ve read a book when you’re done watching it; where it’s just about the characters and you just read, or in this case, watch as their lives unfold. You become so enamored by the characters that you become absorbed by their stories. Each character is fully realized and fleshed out and beautifully performed. Frank Langella isn’t the only one who does a great job in this film. Lili Taylor is terrific as the daughter, and Lauren Ambrose finds that perfect balance between overly ambitious and ruthless but also vulnerable and innocent. 

I do have a few small quibbles with the film, first being that there is a hint of a sexual attraction between Heather and Leonard, more so on her side. That doesn’t really work and is out of place. Also a few scenes, maybe one or two, have moments that seem un-genuine and almost like they were straight out of a bad student film, but besides that, the film is pretty spot on.

The DVD only has a commentary track. With a small budget you can’t really afford making-of’s and featurettes, I guess, but hey, at least we get a commentary.

Starting Out in the Evening is one of those films where you just forget about the filmmaking and get absorbed into these characters and their world. It’s nothing really earth shattering or top-ten-list-worthy but rather just fulfilling. I know that’s kind of weird and vague but that’s the only way I can really describe it.

RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: A-
DVD: C+

- Adam Rettek
Staff Writer