The films of David Gordon Green are tough to pin down. Even excluding the studio comedies, which are a different animal, Green’s indie films have consistent themes but vastly different tones and structures. I don’t know if I’m on Green’s wavelength, but I think I get what he’s doing each time out. Manglehorn sort of won me over by wearing me down.
Al Pacino IS A.J. Manglehorn, a local locksmith who has a lot of random encounters that are borderline surreal. He does a locksmith job, greets Gary (Harmony Korine) at the local casino, sees his son Jacob (Chris Messina), sees his granddaughter, flirts with the bank teller Dawn (Holly Hunter). I figure Green is setting up all the supporting characters, but the fact that Manglehorn wanders through the woods holding his cat, witnessing a breakdancing competition and a gruesome multi-car pileup, made me wonder if this was a more abstract David Gordon Green working.
And that’s the thing. As random as it is, all the character arcs are full. Jacob reaches a conclusion, Dawn reaches a conclusion and even Manglehorn’s loner self reaches a conclusion. It may not be a fun experience, but Manglehorn succeeds in giving you catharsis in a nontraditional way for which you may have to work a little harder. Either by analyzing or simply bearing with the surreal randomness, you get somewhere.
It is a bit of a shame that this isn’t just the serialized locksmithing adventures of Manglehorn. Maybe that’s what life was like for Manglehorn as a budding locksmith. Perhaps we could see the previous adventures of A.J. Manglehorn in a TV series, The Young Manglehorn Chronicles.
So at the end of Manglehorn I felt like it worked on me, although had I known how I’d get there it may not have been an experience I welcomed. Miserable, rambling, unlikeable characters in an abstract narrative is kind of a tough sell, but I feel like I can respect the process. Green can also lovingly shoot a landfill or locksmith shop, because he likes to give cinematic love to everyday things usually taken for granted. I’ve got to say Manglehorn made me Manglehorny. It means nothing, but how can you not say that?
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
