John Krasinski, dare I say, has a pretty good eye for directing. His debut behind the camera, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, while not perfect, is visually well-crafted. The film is nothing if not dense. There is nary a wasted shot or line throughout the brisk 80-minute run time. In Brief Interviews, Krasinski not only directs but also tackles one of the film’s most pivotal and darkest roles. His artistic choices of late will hopefully keep him out of Jim Halpert typecasting purgatory.
The film’s premise is fairly simple. Sara Quinn (Julianne Nicholson) is smack in the middle of doing her graduate work when her boyfriend Ryan (Krasinski) suddenly leaves her without explanation. She sets off conducting filmed interviews with the various men in her life in an attempt to understand the inner workings of the male species. During the dark and oft-hilarious interviews, Sara begins to understand the swarthy undertones of human interaction. The film cuts back and forth between the interviews and Sara’s daily life. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, based on the acclaimed novel of same name by David Foster Wallace, is literary to say the least.
Krasinski calls in some favors. The men in Sara’s life are played by a host of actors from across the genre board. Timothy Hutton, Will Arnett, Max Minghella and Lou Taylor Pucci show up in turn to contribute their musings on how men relate to women. The acting, for the most part, is top-notch. Ben Shenkman’s “Subject #14” gives the film’s most outlandish interview as he attempts to justify his “odd” practices in the bedroom. Max Minghella and Lou Taylor Pucci serve as the film’s guides. They show up, in various costumes across various scenes, to offer counterarguments both directly to the audience and to each other. Timothy Hutton, while not outstanding, plays a seasoned university professor well. While it is not easy to stand out amongst such an experienced cast, two actors manage to rise to the occasion.
The first, as you’d imagine, is Julianne Nicholson. The script gives the men in the film some pretty lofty dialogue while Nicholson’s Sara is often left attempting to push feelings across with a brief facial expression or a quick sentence. Nicholson manages to draw out elements of Sara in every nuance, right down to her hairstyle. All this restraint makes her emotional scenes towards the end of the film, when she finally confronts her ex, that much more poignant. The other actor who brings his A-game isn’t really an actor at all. Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, has three or four scenes that he absolutely knocks out of the park. The interview that his character gives to Sara is unquestionably one of the film’s best. He speaks with a gravitas and emotional authority that is both credible and wrenching. Gibbard’s performance is a pleasant, stand-out surprise.
They say an experienced director of photography often helps an inexperienced director along. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is no exception. John Bailey more than compensates for what Krasinski lacks in experience. Bailey’s IMDB page seems to go on forever. He has been a DP since the early 1970’s and his work includes Nobody’s Fool and As Good as it Gets. Bailey’s photography on Brief Interviews is masterful. Krasinski, as I mentioned before, has the eye of a much more experienced filmmaker. He and Bailey certainly do justice to David Foster Wallace’s story.
While at Brown studying playwriting, John Krasinski did a staged reading of Wallace’s novel. The performance, as stated by Krasinski himself, is what made him want to be an actor. Krasinski’s Ryan is the film’s final, and darkest, interview. His monologue is heady and difficult to process and understand. What is supposed to be the film’s big reveal (why Ryan left Sara so abruptly) feels like a psychology lecture. The emotional element of one human being hurting another is checked at the door. To believe his explanation to Sara, you have to be convinced that he, like the other men in the film, cannot help but succumb to the same failed human nature. I never believed that because Krasinski, even while delivering some painfully jarring lines, still seems way too nice. His facial expression is nice, his manner is inviting and – maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe the point is that even the nicest guys can still do the worst things. When I examined the final scene, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I think another actor could have done it better. I think another actor, given the nature of the role, could have made it something special whereas Krasinski makes it merely acceptable in context.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is certainly not like anything else you’re likely to see in a theater near you. John Krasinski comes into his own as a director and the cast really gets into the material. I credit, again, John Bailey for a fine job photographing this aesthetically pleasing, whole-wheat indie. The film, while demanding of its viewers, is worth a look or at least a saved spot on your queue.
Rating: 
