David Gordon Green's Manglehorn is a film about the destructive power of regret, telling the story of AJ, a reclusive locksmith, who laments over the love of his life that he let get away. Very much a character study, Manglehorn makes its very clear that AJ is a man who has let his regret get the best of him, whether it be in the neglect he showed in raising his son or his overall reclusive lifestyle. This regret and self pity has made AJ a man with no love to share, alienating his son and pushing away Dawn, a friendly Bank teller who takes a liking to him. One scene in particular that illustrates this revolves around a sequence in which Dawn shares her feelings for AJ and yet his only response is to talk more about the woman he let get away. Very much from the point-of-view of AJ, the film uses surrealistic touches as a way to capture the psyche of a man who is ready to die, with a car accident sequence that is remenicient of Godard's Weekend really standing out in its beauty and resonance. With Manglehorn regret is a obsessive and incendiary force, and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that only AJ himself can break free of thd downward spiral. Void of mind-numbing exposition and featuring one of Pacino's best performances in some time, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn is far from profound, but it does provide a tight and fascinating story of one man's rebirth.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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