Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Review

Published by Jeff Leins on: November 15th, 2009

John Krasinski’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is a narrowing of David Foster Wallace’s complex fiction, a varying arrangement of readings and reenactments, some more affecting than others.

The collection of short stories is chopped into short scenes of narcissists intensely delivering soliloquies of Wallace’s words, ranging from pitiful to playful to poignant.  A tape recorder runs for Sara (Julianne Nicholson), a grad student struggling to focus her thesis as Krasinski wrangles his own.

The subjects (including Timothy Hutton, Will Arnett, Will Forte, and Dominic Cooper) bare their psychological proclivities, magnifying or minimizing their inherent machismo for honest and occasionally humorous monologues.  Deplorable tales (or in some cases, fantasies) of sexual encounters are recounted with bravado, shame, and regret, but always with a certain vulnerability unseen in casual or social interaction.  Others wax philosophical on depression or their families, exposing a raw reality beneath the surface that can be met with either empathy or aversion.

Actor/director John Krasinski fills a passionate, pivotal role, unlike the smirking, sarcastic Jim of “The Office” and likely to challenge the hearts of women already enamored by his adorable wit.  His character unleashes a spiteful, hurtful confession fueled by rage, frustration and resentment.  It’s a key part Krasinski reluctantly filled when another actor dropped out, but he’s powerful and unrestrained in a gripping dramatic performance.

His character, Ryan, appears intermittently at gatherings and ultimately his aggressive monologue becomes the impetus for Sara’s focus on male studies.  Their non-linear central relationship and the fragmented structure create an uneven quality to the film that subtracts from the synergy of each man spilling his guts for the curious interviewer.

The muddled affair is an ardent attempt by the first time filmmaker, yet it’s also admirably ambitious given the emotional and intellectual scope of the material.  Perhaps David Foster Wallace is better appreciated in his own lyrical sentences, rather than an adaptation that seeks to make sense of a work left open to individual interpretation.

Krasinski’s perspective is a flawed, noble effort, but Brief Interviews with Hideous Men succeeds in starting the high-minded conversation and may inspire fresh discoveries of the musings of a troubled author.

3 out of 5.