Joe Gould's Secret (2000)

Director:

Stanley Tucci

Writers (WGA):

Joseph Mitchell (books)
Howard A. Rodman (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Around 1940, New Yorker staff writer Joe Mitchell meets Joe Gould, a Greenwich Village character who cadges meals...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Book | Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Ian Holm	...	Joe Gould
Stanley Tucci	...	Joe Mitchell
Hope Davis	...	Therese Mitchell
Sarah Hyland	...	Elizabeth Mitchell
Hallee Hirsh	...	Nora Mitchell
Celia Weston	...	Sarah
Patrick Tovatt	...	Harold Ross
Susan Sarandon	...	Alice Neel
Patricia Clarkson	...	Vivian Marquie
John Tormey	...	Harry Kolis
Jack O'Connell	...	Chef
Jerry Mayer	...	Minetta Bartender
Nell Campbell	...	Tamar (Hostess)
Ron Ryan	...	Jack
Allan Corduner	...	Francis McCrudden

MPAA:

Rated R for some language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

104 min | Argentina:108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Brazil:12 | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Canada:14+ (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | USA:R | Spain:T

Company:

Bohemian Productions

Quotes:

Joe Gould: In the winter, I'm a Buddhist; in the summer, I'm a nudist!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Soundtrack:

Sans Amour

"The story's not over just because the writer stops writing."

What a line that was.

Likely the best movie I've seen in ten years. Joe Mitchell's clear, lucid writing comes through so well one wonders why this hasn't been done before. Being familiar with the stories on which this film is based helped.

Ian Holm brings Gould to life, and Tucci plays the bemused, then overwhelmed journalist wonderfully well. (I could quibble about his "generic southern" rather than North Carolina accent, but that really is just a quibble.)

It made me think (always a sign of any good work of art) about the brief celebrity brought onto persons by well-meaning journalists. We see a slice of their lives, their 15 minutes of fame, but their lives continue on, following their daily routines, which may now be altered by their brush with fame.

It also brings out the dance between madness and genius. How many mumbling street people have we seen and passed, never realizing that there is a life, perhaps wisdom, lurking beneath the tattered clothes, sheltered in their cardboard boxes?

I like movies that are well-written, and this one certainly is. And the New York of the 40's and 50's is a character in the film to. To see the Village Vandguard's sign, knowing that beneath this sign passed Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Coltrane...

Highly recommended.