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The Music of Chance | Year: 1993 Directed: - Philip Haas Actors/Actresses: - James Spader - Mandy Patinkin An intellectually bitter pill. Not for all tastes, this film combines the unique film making approach of Philip Haas (Angels and Insects) with a story by one of our most profoundly intellectual novelists of the 20th century, Paul Auster. Dramatically understated, 'The Music of Chance' chronicles one man's search (Mandy Patinkin plays Jim Nash) for himself, as he quits his job, loads his car and heads cross country. That his path crosses that of Jack Pozzi (James Spader) a drifter, card-sharp, down on his luck today, but eye's on the 'big score' ahead, is not exactly unpredictable. What they encounter as a result is indeed surprising, as well as strenuous, and all together inappropriate to be delivered in the fantasy medium of film. When I read the book, I stumbled over the text, the words weighing heavy on my being. Reading and rereading, the labor of the learning was far more than that which had yielded the purchase price. Every twist and turn of the plot deals more multiple metaphor. Don't look to walk away from this one with a pleasant taste in your mouth, but you may find yourself a better person having watched it. Look for a Paul Auster cameo at the end. There's Something Fascinating to me About This Film What a mysterious and subsuming story. This movie is so obscure and inconspicuous in its packaging it's lucky anyone has seen it at all. But I keep coming back to it. For me it begins with Mandy Pantinkin being such a subtle and sincere and moving actor. And his character, the way that he accepts his predicament and abstains from negativity, doing whatever his captors ask of him. And then his deep brooding silence late at night in the trailer. The obscurity of his background and his future. This is a very personal film to me. There is so much going on under the surface. And then James Spader, the somewhat shallow foil, but not insincere person, who is ultimately ruined by his inability to follow the rules. My only criticism is that there are too many loose ends toward the end of the picture. Somehow that doesn't lessen my opinion of the movie though. This one got me turned on to Paul Auster. I've now read several of his books and loved them. OK. This is an absorbing, but unforthcoming, film. Buy The Music Of Chance at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Music Of Chance Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Music Of Chance This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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