Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Brian Cook. Produced by: Cook & Michael Fitzgerald. Written by Anthony Frewin. Director of Photography: Howard Atherton. Edited by: Alan Strachan. Music by: Bryan Adam. Released by: Magnolia Pictures. Country of Origin: UK/France. 86 min. Not Rated. With: John Malkovich, Marisa Berenson, Jim Davidson, Richard E. Grant, Terence Rigby & Leslie Philips. Alan Conway conned rock musicians, gay bar patrons (more so the latter), and even got close to becoming a full-time consultant to a lounge singer aiming for Vegas, all based on his using the name Stanley Kubrick and an accent that varied depending on situation or mood. An alcoholic, his compulsion to drink equaled his attachments to men. Director Brian Cook was an assistant director to Kubrick, and the writer, Anthony Frewin, was also an assistant to Kubrick. There’s a moment where Cook tries to drum up some sympathy for Conway/Kubrick after he’s found out by one of his lovers and Conway grovels at the young man’s feet. This is followed up by a scene where the loneliness of this conman is accentuated by him walking alone with a bottle of booze as forlorn music plays in the background. This entirely doesn’t work. But up until this point, Cook has succeeded in making Color Me Kubrick all about facades. However, there is no background for why Conway is the way he is. Out for money? More than likely, and for affection and attention as well, but none of this is made very clear, which is why, to an extent, the film works in showing Conway carrying out his swindling endeavors. His deceptions are intricate in each little detail, like ditching a cab fare in the middle of the night, or even just a small, uproarious bit where he relays a story about “Miss Kirk Douglas” on the set of Spartacus. All through this, Malkovich is a pro at showing how a conman isn’t always a success, yet somehow gets some sort of ego boost through it all.
As for Kubrick fans, of which I am one, the film may work, but just up to a point. Conway’s adventures are broadly amusing, but never really as funny or interesting as one might hope for. It’s simply a tale of a man deluded by his own pervasive ego, where Kubrick and his film career is not really the issue so much as the story of a nowhere man hooked on conning.
Jack Gattanella
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