Waltzing with Brando

Films about celluloid icons during interesting or unusual periods in their personal and professional lives can make for great viewing. Of course, much depends on the quality, nature and depth of the source material for their stories. But, unfortunately, that’s where the latest offering from writer-director Bill Fishman – a comedic memoir about a legendary actor – comes up short. In the second half of the 20th Century, Marlon Brando (Billy Zane) captivated audiences with his performances in such films as “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) and “On the Waterfront” (1954), and, by the 1970s, he had become a household name. However, the actor, known for his excesses and eccentricities, tired of the limelight and left Hollywood for life in Tahiti, where he was less conspicuous and had an opportunity to get back to nature, one of his lesser-known passions. He purchased a private though largely inaccessible atoll where he wanted to build an ecologically friendly retreat center. And, to design and construct the facility, Brando hired an idealistic, somewhat nerdy Los Angeles architect, Bernard Judge (Jon Heder), who was encouraged by friends and family to take the assignment as a means to come out of his shell and establish himself. What follows, then, is the wild and wacky story of how the project unfolded, a tale filled with a host of unconventional characters and circumstances. Regrettably, though, the picture suffers from a variety of execution problems. For instance, the storytelling approach is all over the map (not entirely unexpected for a director best known for making music videos), an issue clearly reflected in the scattered screenplay and narrative. Told primarily from Judge’s perspective – that of a character who is not particularly interesting to begin with – the production focuses more on him than the actor whose name appears in the movie’s title. Because the architect’s story is inherently rather thin, it feels disjointed, underdeveloped, padded and even goofy at times, incorporating irrelevant material, especially from Judge’s personal life. Brando, for his part, is relegated to an almost-secondary role, popping up occasionally to make enigmatic observations and engage in over-the-top acts of debauchery. In between, the picture presents somewhat cheesy re-creations of famous scenes from several of the movies the actor made to bankroll the project, including his Oscar-winning portrayal in “The Godfather” (1972) and his Oscar-nominated performance in “Last Tango on Paris” (1973), material that seems shamelessly self-indulgent in light of the subject matter. These scenes aside, however, Zane admittedly does his level best to make the most out of the material he has to work with here (which isn’t saying much), and his physical makeover for the role is truly noteworthy, to be sure. It’s also heartening to see Brando credited for his environmentalism efforts, something for which he has rarely received the accolades he deserved. But “Waltzing with Brando” offers so little else otherwise that it’s not worth the time. Watch one of his films, a Tahitian travelogue or an ecological documentary instead.

I recently sat down to screen Waltzing with Brando, a biographical film about Bernard Judge's friendship with Marlon Brando, with a heavy emphasis as to how their relationship came to be. I went in with the highest of expectations due to the involvement of Billy Zane, Tia Carrere, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jon Heder. What joy to not only have those expectations met, but surpassed. The storytelling flavor feels likened to a wholesome Hunter S. Thompson tale narrated in the style of Stand by Me or The Sandlot, with infidelity and alcohol still in the mix. Which I think rightfully conveyed the sense of how befriending an industry behemoth like Marlon Brando would feel, as a little bug. While the film honors Marlon Brando the man, it doesn't shy away from how flawed he was as a person. Rather, it approaches it in a very loving, human way. It allows room for the nuance that a life lived, brings to the table. I do recommend going into it with the understanding that activism back then looked entirely different from activism today. They were still leaps & bounds ahead of the rest of western society, yet they didn't understand that they too were still colonizers in their actions. What truly stuck with me was Billy Zane's performance. Whilst Zane has always delivered stellar acting in every film he has been in (my #1 being Demon Knight), he is transcendent as Brando. He felt candid, honest, truly embodying the role. Jon Heder was fantastic as Bernard Judge, the man behind the story. An architect brought onto a project by Brando to help him build an ecologically self-sustaining retreat on an untouched remote Tahitian island. The intention being so that Brando could finally abandon Hollywood and live as a happy recluse. We are passengers in Judge's POV, witnesses to his trials and tribulations. Overall, the film felt stylistically scattered, which in this rare case, served the greater good of the project. The mood is ever-changing, translated in a way where I, as the viewer, was able to feel like I too had an emotional stake in how the story would end. There's also a fair share of humor in betwixt. I highly recommend Waltzing with Brando to everyone. Stay for the end credits.