"The Great Buck Howard" is a film that is not for all tastes. Now this is really true of all movies...but particularly true of this one. I watched the film with my wife and about midway through it, she was done....and she left because she got bored with the story. In addition, the style film just isn't 'normal'...it's more like a character study than an actual movie...and much of it is because you don't particularly like the main character, Buck Howard.
Colin Hanks (son of Tom) plays Troy, a young man who wants to experience life and not his father's idea of what his life should be. So, he drops out of law school and takes a job as a road manager for a has-been mentalist, Buck Howard (John Malkovich). This does seem like a huge come-down and it's hard to discern WHY he would take such a job...especially because although Howard's skills are at times amazing, he also, at times, is a total pain in the butt. This story, essentially, is about the time the two work together...though exactly what it all means and a normal story arc aren't here in this story.
I think Hanks and Malkovich are amazing and their performances alone are reasons to watch the film. As far as the story goes, however, it was weak and I really am not sure what it all meant...if anything.
Colin Hanks (son of Tom) plays Troy, a young man who wants to experience life and not his father's idea of what his life should be. So, he drops out of law school and takes a job as a road manager for a has-been mentalist, Buck Howard (John Malkovich). This does seem like a huge come-down and it's hard to discern WHY he would take such a job...especially because although Howard's skills are at times amazing, he also, at times, is a total pain in the butt. This story, essentially, is about the time the two work together...though exactly what it all means and a normal story arc aren't here in this story.
I think Hanks and Malkovich are amazing and their performances alone are reasons to watch the film. As far as the story goes, however, it was weak and I really am not sure what it all meant...if anything.