The preposterous couple

Film: The Extra Man

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

"So, there we are. Where are we?" So goes one of the favorite sayings of Mr. H. Harrison. It seems to be less of a line than a musing on the script.

In The Extra Man, Paul Dano stars as Louis Ives, an English professor in the 1990s who feels like he belongs in the 1920s. The only problem is, he can't decide if he wants to be the Great Gatsby or Betty Boop. After being fired for cross-dressing, the troubled young man packs up and moves to Manhattan, where he meets an enigmatic, wildly eccentric failed playwright by the name of Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline). Harrison sublets a room to Louis, shows him the ropes of the Big Apple, and teaches him the fine art of being an "extra man," essentially a fancy male escort. This amply satisfies Louis' desire to feel like a gentleman, but not his equally strong desire to feel pretty.

The reason The Extra Man doesn't work is that it is as purpose-confused as Louis is gender-confused. It can't decide if it wants to be wacky and funny, or serious and dark. The only thing that can be taken away from this film is that it's never a good idea to act impulsively. And that everything works itself out in the end, so why bother worrying at all. Maybe it would be acceptable if the supporting characters made more sense. During his time in New York, Louis meets two other "important" persons. The first is Harrison's neighbor, the mysterious and troll-like Gershon (John C. Reilly), who curiously resembles Hagrid. The second is Louis' co-worker at his new job, Mary (Katie Holmes), for whom he develops strong feelings. Despite being incredibly environmentally-conscious and an animal rights activist (in other words a self-proclaimed good person), Mary comes off as brutally cold to Louis. Their interactions are probably the only times when we feel something for our main character, but it is more pity than sympathy. Harrison too, a role that only Kevin Kline could play and he plays it valiantly, quickly becomes tiring in his idiosyncrasies and rants about Russian women and thieving Swiss hunchbacks.

The film is based on a book, which would seem to account for the adaptation's shortcomings if not for the fact that the author, Jonathan Ames, helped adapt it. Most of the film's elements would clearly be better left to a reader's imagination. The Extra Man might be a flop, but I'll always be excited to see something from co-directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the duo who crafted 2003's stroke of genius, American Splendor.