Using The Great Gatsby as its guiding paradigm, The Extra Man tells the familiar story of an eccentric misfit discovering himself through the development of an unlikely friendship. Again Like Gatsby (our protagonist’s favourite book) the film uses a narrator to add comic nuance to the tale, and hints at an earlier, more glamorous era.
Lewis (Paul Dano) is the geeky misfit in question. Awkward, shy and with a penchant for cross dressing, Lewis is out of step with his peers, and seems to be from another time entirely. Enter eccentric bon viveur and ladies escort Henry (Kevin Kline), from whom he rents a room. Several adventures later, Lewis and Henry’s relationship begins to blossom. Unfortunately, that is the only thing that does. The Extra Man stops short of ever being actually funny, and the characters are so unsympathetic that it’s hard to maintain any interest in the narrative. Female characters are either thoughtless, old, or fat, and so thinly drawn you wonder why the directors bothered with them at all. Dano’s Lewis owes too much of a debt to Bud Cort’s Harold, and the similarity in tone to Rushmore make the film feel embarrassingly derivative. The weak plot makes the film feel rambly and unfocussed, and any half-hearted attempts to add depth end up making The Extra Man look like a film that is simply trying too hard.
Showing @ Cineworld 24th June 21.30 and 25th June 18.00