He Was a Quiet Man (2007) Reviews

• Loneliness, Humiliation and Paranoia

  claudio_carvalho2008-08-03

  In Los Angeles, the lonely and paranoid Bob Maconel (Christian Slater) is a complete loser: at home, in spite of living in the same address for five years, his next door neighbor ignores his existence and he only talks to his alter-ego golden fish in his aquarium; in the office at ADD company, he is abused and humiliated by his colleagues and nobody has ever asked an opinion to him or invited him to a happy-hour. Every now and then Bob imagines shooting five loath coworkers or blowing up ADD's building. When his next cubicle colleague has a breakdown and shoots his colleagues, Bob kills him with five shots and becomes a popular local hero. His boss Gene Shelby (William H. Macy) moves him from his cubicle to an office in the last floor and makes him the VP of Creative Thinking as the substitute for Vanessa Parks (Elisha Cuthbert), who has become quadriplegic with one bullet in her spine. Bob visits Vanessa in the hospital and after the initial rejection, she asks him to help her to commit suicide. However, they become close and Bob falls in love for Vanessa. But the mistreatment in the past and lack of confidence of the quiet Bob haunt him, driving him to an insanity process. "He Was a Quiet Man" is an impressively dark and morbid character study of a paranoid man after years of humiliation and loneliness. Most of the characters in the office are usually found in most companies, from the sweet woman that uses sex to climb positions to the apple-polisher; the abusive to the abused worker. Therefore, there is a total credibility in the universe of the employees of ADD. The underrated Christian Slater gives a fantastic performance with the quiet and ignored Bob Maconel and his character is very well developed, slightly recalling Michael Douglas in "Falling Down". The extremely dark humor may be unpleasant to some viewers but I found this movie a gem to be discovered. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "A Fúria" ("The Rage")

• Witty, quirky, dark comedy undone slightly by its visuals...

  shaneo6322008-01-12

  Frank A. Cappello, writer and director of He Was a Quiet Man, is a man with something to prove, having written the hilariously bad Hulk Hogan vehicle Suburban Commando, and directing the wholly disappointing Constantine. He Was a Quiet Man, whilst not an unqualified success, is one of the underseen gems of 2007. The film is essentially an amalgam of A History of Violence, Falling Down, and Office Space, with a pile of quirks to boot. Bob Maconel (the hilariously disguised Christian Slater), a despondent office worker, decides that he is going to perform a murderous rampage at his work office, yet before he can do so, a fellow maniac beats him to it. However, Bob, in protecting the one person that he cares about, the beautiful Vanessa (Elisha Cuthbert), guns down the assailant, and inadvertently becomes a hero. Bob is unashamedly similar to Michael Douglas' "D-Fens" character from Falling Down, kitted out in a shirt and tie, and even further, seeks moments of reflection in the great outdoors, although in this instance, there are no Mexican gangsters attempting to rob him. The similarities do, thankfully, stop there – this film is born of something else, with its CGI traffic whizzing by at astronomical speeds as Bob dawdles along, illustrating the drudgery of Bob's life without an ounce of subtlety. Whilst the film as a whole is overly reliant on visual curiosities such as this, the animated, talking fish which eggs Bob on to kill his colleagues is delightfully colourful, and mildly amusing to boot. As one can gather from the above paragraph, He Was a Quiet Man is very surreal in a hilarious sort of way. Essentially, if you gave David Lynch a funny bone, you'd probably end up with something remarkably similar to this. Despite the aforementioned reliance on visual effects, the film is unquestionably carried by the barely-recognisable Slater who, despite his recent collaboration with tragically awful director Uwe Boll, proves that he is still worth something in Hollywood, with comic timing that is nothing short of spot on. Bob is essentially revered by everyone around him for his "heroic" actions – he is given a new job, his colleagues no longer think of him as a schmuck, and the sexy office bitch wants to have sex with him, yet the film's real point of contention is Cuthbert's character. Vanessa is left paralysed following the shooting, wishing that she was dead, and moreover, she wishes that Bob, who saved her life, would kill her. A surprisingly understated (until the climatic scenes) conundrum surfaces as an aside to this drama – Bob still finds those around him utterly repugnant, and he considers whether or not to carry out what the other gunner started, as well as putting Vanessa out of her misery, of course. The film carries these questions very well – it is at times predictable, and occasionally not so, yet it never ceases to lose its sense of intrigue. The film's examination of the way in which humans operate is not intricate, and verges on syrupy at times, yet what is most entertaining about He Was a Quiet Man is its surreal spirit. Furthermore, even in its sweetness, the film explores the lives of disabled persons with a surprising level of insight and honesty . It may be exaggerated, and at times, even humorous, yet its approach is undeniably refreshing, particularly in relation to how the disabled manage to still engage in an active and healthy sex life. He Was a Quiet Man never remains comfortable, constantly fidgeting and posing new questions for both ourselves and Bob to consider. The film follows through with an insane close, yet it is the most manically reasoned, and therefore, perhaps the most realistic end possible (although term "realism" is a very tenuous one in a film as twisted as this). The ending comes very abruptly, and little is done to satisfy viewer curiosity, yet we are given the vital answers, even if they aren't wholly satisfying, and are a tad questionable. We are left to ponder several things, yet when the preceding ninety minutes are so intentionally devoid of poignance, the film may simply leave your mind as the final frame does. Christian Slater's latest and greatest effort (at least for a while) is A History of Violence without the graphic violence, Falling Down without the social commentary, and Office Space without the sagacious humour. Yes, it is a blend of all three films, at the cost of diluting each of them. The film's worst crime may be never allowing us to particularly care for Bob (or anyone) as much as we did for D-Fens in Schumacher's film, yet even despite its relative superficiality, He Was a Quiet Man remains a thoroughly entertaining, inventive and quirky film that will have nihilists the world over utterly dumbfounded (myself included). Elisha Cuthbert pulls out a career best (in that she is above tolerable, and even "good"), William H Macy plays the corporate yes-man with glee, and Slater, with great aid from his fabulous make-up department, looks and acts with great hilarity. It is unfortunate that this film, embracing its flaws as it so flagrantly does, has yet to find a large audience, and as such, it instantly becomes one of the indie staples of 2007.

• He mostly kept to himself.

  conanneutron2008-01-28

  What goes through the mind of the office drone that snaps and shoots up the place? What drives a person like that? Come on, we've all seen the reports "He Was a Quiet Man, he mostly kept to himself..." Going Postal is a commonplace term that is known by anyone, and certainly a feeling that can be understood from anybody that has ever had a thankless office job. The world has changed, everything is shades of grey and certain people, who go through a lonely life without being understood, and while constantly being kicked around have a tendency to fade into the background. Unless they make themselves known in some way. Any which way you slice it, that's what this movie is about. The Quiet Loner, put upon by the inequities of the office bully, forever ignored by the bosses, the pretty girl, you name it. Until, that special event. The one that changes everything. What if... instead of shooting up the office, somebody else beats him to the punch, and he becomes a hero by accident instead? While not perfect, He Was a Quiet Man provides some powerful performances, including a knockout by Christian Slater who truly becomes the role. Even Elisha Cuthbert, who is generally speaking, not exactly an acting heavyweight in my book, does a fine job. The soundtrack leaves a little to be desired, and some of the cgi is a bit fake looking, but on the whole this is a character study that is well worth watching that, while leaving an ambiguous and somewhat dystopian ending is well worth checking out. Cappello's film is a little unnerving, but very compelling and worth a look.

• Very interesting...

  scoochie92008-03-26

  "He Was a Quiet Man" is perhaps the most original and unpredictable movie I've ever seen. If you're looking for something "normal", you should probably look elsewhere. A story of an extremely lonely, put-upon, disturbed man who desperately wants to be Somebody. Christian Slater plays this man absolutely brilliantly. In watching his performance, I kept thinking "Where is Christian Slater?" ... Well, he's not even in the neighborhood. Well done, guy! The direction is absolutely amazing: colorful, imaginative, darkly funny, and surreal. Cubicles, and hummingbirds, and talking fish, oh my! While the film is not particularly emotionally satisfying (to say the least), on the cerebral and aesthetic level, it delivers big time. "He Was a Quiet Man" answers the musical question: "Now maniacs will think twice before going crazy." Yessiree.

• Brilliantly Surreal

  dekkar52008-01-13

  He Was a Quiet Man draws on one of the most morbid aspects of our society and describes it perfectly. Christian Slater plays the quiet cubicle worker, who, abused and mistreated by his coworkers, decides to shoot up the office. Fortunately for him, another man in his position takes aim first, and Slater takes him down with the bullets he had originally meant for his coworkers. After the aftermath, his coworkers whom he loathed, treat him as a hero; and the object of his desire, played by Elisha Cuthbert, is paralyzed from a bullet wound. While Cuthbert initially enlists Slater to help her end her life, the two eventually form a bond that would have never otherwise occurred. The movie leads us down a path of insanity and through the surreal, morbid, and sickened world of Slater's character almost flawlessly; and delivers a thought provoking, eye opening take on the mind of a psychotic would be murderer.