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Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story (2005)

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24 comments in total

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49 out of 59 people found the following comment useful :-
Very "kubrickish", 18 enero 2006

Author: imcrazy de Paris, France

A very smart movie, which deals with several very interesting subjects. John Malkovitch is really incredible in his role.

The movie points out the craziness of A. Conway. It especially points out the vanity of the "victims", so much so that sometimes, you feel rather sympathetic towards the con himself. Each of his victims finds in his/her meeting with "Stanley Kubrick" something that makes him/her feel good about themselves or something that will profit him/her. Very often, the only thing he gets out of all this is a lot of drink and money.

The different references to actual Kubrick films are rather intelligent.

Honestly, the first scene is really a kick.

A film that is to be seen by any Kubrick fan.

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21 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Congrats to Tony Frewin, 6 febrero 2006

Author: susan_glen28 de United Kingdom

Congrats to Tony Frewin who scripted this movie. Am I right in thinking the characterisation of Conway is based partially on a guy called Gary Ness who Malkovitch resembles? Presumably Tony didn't get the opportunity to interview Conway and wasn't able to write a precise portrayal of his character. It doesn't matter. Malkovitch is totally convincing in the role. The fact that Malkovitch and Kubrick look nothing like each other just adds to the deliciousness of the surreal situation. The manner in which the audience sees how Conway conned his victims was effective and convincing and often very funny. The special London vibe from that period came through strongly. The story is perfect for film adaptation and adds to the discussion of the power of celebrity in modern life. Its a great story for a scriptwriter to take on.

It's definitely a Kubrick-ish movie and that's hardly surprising as many of the Kubrick film family were involved. There's a particularly good scene where Conways Kubrick trick fails which is very satisfying and will please many a fan.

It's rare that I laugh out loud in the cinema but I was giggling away like a hyena. I also loved seeing well known and loved British character actors in cameo roles. Lets hope the team do more.Kubrick fans will be pleased.

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22 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Colourful, but very in your face, 24 agosto 2006

Author: Chris Docker (eyeforfilm) de Scotland, United Kingdom

Something of a labour of love, Colour Me Kubrick is a short biopic of con-man Alan Conway who successfully posed as Stanley Kubrick during the director's lifetime. Played by John Malkovich at his most enduringly camp, Conway charms the socks, money and underpants from a string of wealthy suckers and gay young men. A master of his game, he gets people to write large cheques to cover fictitious donations to charity dinners as readily as conning twenty quid off a rock band to buy them (and him) fags and alcohol.

Wildly exuberant and certainly colourful, the film is well directed and acted. Its main shortcoming are two fold. The plot, such as it is, comprises a series of extended sketches until Conway's eventual apprehension, which lends an air of repetitiveness. Secondly, although Malkovich's intensely colourful campness is a remarkable achievement, he stage centres in practically every scene and if you cannot fall completely in love with it, the effeminate preening eventually can look dated and rather irritating.

Colour Me Kubrick is a traditional camp comedy with lots of cross-references for film fans. If you enjoy the first five minutes you will love it, otherwise it may have you climbing the walls.

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Malkovitch camps it up for Kubrick Fans., 4 julio 2006

Author: John Bale de Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

John Malkovitch steps right out of character to sashay round London as a gay sloshed and somewhat sleazy con man Alan Conway impersonating the great film director Stanley Kubrick. Smooth talking Conway certainly manages to take people in and pocket their money. Malkovitch seems to thoroughly enjoy the role, and gets the most out of it. The fact that he doesn't resemble Kubrick in a fit, makes the impersonation even more audacious. The picture will appeal to film buffs, with its in jokes, and many references to Kubrick's films. There are some amusing situations and Conway finally gets something of a comeuppance being unceremoniously chucked off the end of a pier. A good cast of English stock players (including Richard E. Grant heavily wigged up) support Malkovitch, thoroughly camping it up, he is in most scenes and carries the movie on his performance. The music is always appropriate, has references to films like Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange, etc and helps keep the pace brisk. I suspect the joke runs a little on the long side, but it should make Kubrick fans happy.

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9 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
tour de force for Malkovich, 1 abril 2007

Author: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) de United States

"Color Me Kubrick" will remind you a bit of Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me if You Can," in which Leonardo Di Caprio played a world-class con artist who duped people into believing he was a myriad of Very Important People whom he was really not. In "Colour Me Kubrick," the imposter is a man named Alan Conway who goes about London telling people he is the famed (and famously reclusive) director, Stanley Kubrick, in order to bum rides, free drinks and even sexual favors off of them. I guess it's appropriate that I just happened to catch this film on April 1st of all days.

Written by Andrew Frewin and directed by Brian W. Cook, "Color Me Kubrick" is clearly a godsend for its star, John Malkovich, who seems to be having the time of his movie-acting life doing this role. Malkovich tailors his demeanor and accent to fit the audience to whom he is playing, running the gamut from Capote-esquire fey for his gay "clients" (Conway is himself gay) to regular-guy macho for his straight targets. Yet, Malkovich never resorts to mere playacting to create his effect; by fully inhabiting the character, he keeps Conway from descending into a merely clownish figure and allows him to register as a fully fleshed-out human being.

Unfortunately, although the screenplay is frequently witty and even downright hilarious at times, the movie itself is never quite as good as Malkovich is in it. Despite its overall originality, there's an innate one-note quality to the setup that the movie cannot completely shake, so that, even at a mere eighty-six minutes, the conceit tends to wear a bit thin after awhile. The filmmakers somewhat make up for that weakness by also showing us the means by which Conway is eventually unmasked for all the world to see. There are also a number of surprisingly poignant moments in the film in which we are shown just how sad, lonely and pathetic an individual Conway really is. The most touching sequence comes when a movie-savvy young man in a bar uncovers Conway's ruse by trapping him with a trick Stanley Kramer question. As Conway slinks away from the scene humiliated and crestfallen, we can clearly see why Malkovich is one of the finest actors of his generation.

Beyond the Conway character, the film provides a gently satirical jab at our culture's overwhelming obsession with celebrity and our willingness to suspend critical judgment on a person or a scheme if we can discern a benefit for ourselves by doing so. For, indeed, virtually everyone who allows himself to be duped by this impersonator has starry-eyed dreams of one day making it big in either the entertainment business or the world of corporate financing. Conway has merely come up with a clever way of exploiting that obsession for his own personal benefit.

There's also something wryly humorous in the fact that, although Kubrick is universally recognized as being one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, his face was so unfamiliar to both the general populace and even people in the movie industry that Conway was able to pull this ruse off for so long without getting caught. Can anyone imagine an individual trying that same stunt with Spielberg, Tarantino, Scorsese, etc.?

This is a slight but endearing comedy that is a must-see for John Malkovich fans.

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27 out of 46 people found the following comment useful :-
A misunderstood funny film, 4 febrero 2006

Author: gisela-2 de Paris, France

I was expecting to see this film for a long time because of the appearance of one of my favorite actors, Robert Powell. When it was released in France this film got many bad critics that nearly stopped me to see this film. I've seen it and now I'm 100% sure that French film critics are stupid and have nothing in their brains.

This film is a fine comedy, but if you laugh with typical American comedy, then you won't find it comic. And people forget that this film is about Alan Conway, NOT Stanley Kubrick! This guy (Conway) just posed as Kubrick, that's all. People who think that the view of the director is to show that Kubrick was homosexual are stupid and blind or simply didn't see the film!! So please understand that this film is ABOUT the guy who posed as Kubrick, THIS IS NOT A FILM ABOUT KUBRICK HIMSELF!!

So the film is OK, I spent a good evening and was pleased to see Robert Powell as the journalist with the nice voice. The cast was excellent, but to me Malkovich overacted and had a disturbing and nasty accent most of the time.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
COLOUR ME KUBRICK - short and to the point., 17 junio 2006

Author: rhettrospective de Melbourne Australia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

John Malkovich plays Alan Conway who pretends he is reclusive director Stanley Kubrick. Despite not resembling Kubrick in any way whatsoever, Conway succeeds in siphoning money from innocent gawkers, as well as never ever paying for bills, dinner or even writing cheques. Malkovich's performance is so over the top and flamboyant that it is fascinating and annoying at the same time. He changes not only his appearance each time (obviously Conway assumes Kubrick wears flamboyant clothes and hats) but also his accents, ranging from British to a mixture of other dialects. And all this, in just 86 minutes- which goes to prove what I always believe, that films should ideally run no more than 90 minutes. Some lovely in joke references to Kubrick's film, but ultimately where this films falls down is that after one or two con-jobs by Conway, we basically get more of the same throughout the film. It would have been better to expand on the subplot of those trying to track him down, to give this film more strength. http://rhettrospective.blogspot.com

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19 out of 34 people found the following comment useful :-
Can't recommend, 16 octubre 2006

Author: manhimself de Vancouver, Canada

I saw this film recently at the Vancouver Film Fest and left thoroughly disappointed.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this film is rather one-dimensional. Easily 75% of the movie is Alan Conway (Malkovich) hanging out in bars trying to convince guys that he's Stanley Kubrick so they'll: a) give him free drinks and stuff AND/OR b) sleep with him. Which gets old pretty quick... Virtually no insight is given as to what drives Conway's need to escape the insignificance of his life.

Also, the repeated allusions to Kubrick's films are so heavy-handed that they some off feeling uninspired. A little more subtlety would have gone a long way, and prevented from reminding me of how superior Kubrick's films are in comparison to the one on-screen.

All in all, it's not a completely terrible movie. However, given the subject matter and the lead actor I definitely felt really let down by this film.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
An Exercise in Allusion, 23 marzo 2007

Author: otaku777 de United States

Allow me to preface this whole review by saying that the more familiar you are with the works of Stanley Kubrick, the more enjoyable this film will be for you.

If you are only slightly familiar with Kubrick, and are not interested in seeing a John Malkevich playing an impressively nuanced, yet unprogressing character (after seeing, one has to admit it was quite the feat), then your $10 is probably better spent elsewhere. However, if you are like me and get a kick out any work that can thread in a Kubrick allusion without making any excuses, this film might be right up your alley.

Within this film there is no great commentary, no grand message, and no prevailing plot. What it does contain is one compelling character, one twisted journey, and whole host of inside jokes which, if you are in on the bit, make this film worth every penny of the ticket price. A confidence man, Alan (Malkevich), grifts his way through every episode of this linear yet non-Aristelean film by pretending to be the reclusive film director, Stanley Kubrick. Every episode is structured around an allusion (which Alan never seems to get because it appears as though he has never actually seen a Kubrick movie) to one of Kubrick's greatest scenes.

I believe giving too much more else will ruin the ride for those that care to take it. And, oh my, what a weirdly wonderful ride it is.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Good But Misconceived, 10 marzo 2008

Author: samkan de poconos, pennesylvania

This is an interesting film, if for no other reason for the talent of Malkovich. His performance is a study of excellent acting: He is so good as a reckless alcoholic pulling off acts of incredible chutzpah that the viewer literally cringes and winches in fear of his becoming exposed. Its not long into the movie that I was completely accepting of the lead character's complete asocial pathology. I accepted such for what it was - without any hope of redemption, rehabilitation or remorse! The problem with the film is that since the character soon becomes so one dimensional, the scenes just flow as episode after episode in a manner, way, etc., that makes one long for some personal epiphany, crisis, etc. This flick would have played well as tongue-in-cheek biography with a heavy dose of comedy, much like the films about; e.g., Ed Wood, Larry Flynt, etc. The movie might have been bettor with some modest introduction to the lead character, allowing some empathy.

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