Georgetown (Christoph Waltz)

[Grouchy]

[Grouchy]

Flawed but strong directorial debut for Waltz. Over the years I've discovered that I'm a fan of actor-directed movies for one simple fact - it's almost always a guarantee that the director is emotionally invested in the story and can't wait to tell this tale. In this case I feel like Waltz was sipping some tea on an armchair when he came across the NY Times article ("The worst marriage in Georgetown") and realized the character simply begged to be played by him. Now, I like Waltz a lot, but at this point we all have to admit he's not the most versatile actor - he plays slimy funny antagonists really well and he plays them all with a similar flair. So he's a natural fit for the mythomaniac gigoló Ulrich Mott, based on the real-life Albrecht Muth. In the meantime, he manages to find some juicy roles for two excellent actresses like Redgrave and Benning, presumably unfairly kept out of the spotlight these days for age reasons. And so he sinks his teeth in the role, only downplaying some aspects of the real person like his pervasive alcoholism. His Mott is a bit more skilled a liar than what Muth appears to have been like.

Some reviewers have pointed out that the movie seems to run out of steam even at 95 minutes. This is true to an extent because it builds a false sense of intrigue. It's a character piece but it's shot like a mystery plot and so we expect a twist on the apparent events that never really comes. I believe the script is too blame for this but they're still some entertaining 95 minutes.