BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

wildblueyonder I did like the movie, I rated it 7... there is a lot of human insight and I always enjoy when characters seem like real, but interesting people, and for the most part they do. Keaton not usually my favorite (although I loved Pacific Heights), and he's uneven in this role as well, overacting.Still all the foundation was there for this to be not just a good but great movie and, for me at least, it wasn't.

rooprect The main character doesn't say a word for the first half hour. But in that half hour, if we're paying attention, we get more insight into the depths of a man's soul than if we had just read his 500-page autobiography.The Merry Gentleman is billed as a crime drama, but that label hardly does it justice. The same way "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" broke the spy genre, the same way "2001: A Space Odyssey" broke the scifi genre, the same way "Pink Floyd -The Wall" ain't no average musical, this film is anything but your average crime drama. For starters, there's not a single car chase, gunfight, blimp explosion or any of the standard crime drama clichés. Instead, the tension & suspense is masterfully built around secrets. We begin with a secret which only the main character and the audience know. Then there is a secret which the 2nd character only knows (which the audience must slowly piece together). And finally, we have the main character's ultimate secret which is so cryptically presented that it may take you a few days of introspection before you figure it out.This film is very much like a challenging poem whose meaning is elusive at first glance but whose mood & style sinks into your mind over time. Dialogue is sparse, but every line packs a whollop. In particular, pay attention to the analogy of ghosts & angels which crops up several times both verbally & visually. One of the characters says something like "Ghosts and angels are the same, except ghosts are haunted while angels are blessed." OK, it may not mean much at first, but by the end of the film the significance is absolutely beautiful.Which brings me to the cinematography: absolutely beautiful. I'm no film school student, but I know what images affect me, and these scenes certainly did. Contrast (gleaming white snowflakes at night), perspective (long corridors at the morgue), symmetry (a lonely theatre marquee) and surrealism (a Christmas tree burning in a wheat field) are just some of the artistic touches you have in store. I can honestly say that I cannot think of a finer directoral debut than Michael Keaton in The Merry Gentleman.I won't even get into the first rate acting, the haunting musical score, or Katie's adorable accent. This movie is just about perfect. The only reason why I'm giving it only 8 stars instead of 10 is that I'm a real hardass.By the way, DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILER. DO NOT READ THE DVD DESCRIPTION. AVOID ALL DISCUSSION OF PLOT. This movie is best enjoyed if you know absolutely nothing about the story. The challenge (and the fun) will be even greater.

inkslayer Here are the good things about this movie: Dialogue. The dialogue is very realistic. I was shouting the same exact responses the characters did BEFORE they spoke them.Continuity/editing: Someone was paying real close attention. I can't remember seeing such perfect continuity. The two cops confabbing in the car is a perfect example.Camera work: Ex: the church scene is nice and wide which equals powerful.Pace: the pace was spot-on for this story. The pace matched the characters, their actions, and motives.The story: the story was a nice little slice of life. The Merry Gentleman almost reminded me of a foreign flick. Michael Keaton: His body language, his walk, and his facial expressions were an asset to his character. One exception: that wasn't you Michael walking away on the grass. I could tell. I needed to know that was you walking away. Clearly, it was not. You used a body double and that was a big let down.The other actors: Nice ensemble who all worked well and off one another.Okay, a woman sees a man on the top of a building after he's just made a hit. Who cares if you can figure out what's going to happen next, or to whom? Is that why we watch movies? To be brilliant? Look, it's not the story that drives The Merry Gentleman. It's the characters. And those who said they don't care about the characters - perhaps you don't care in the way you care whether Chief Brody makes it out of the ocean alive - but you care. Or at least, you're curious.The two things I don't like: 1. The title. 2. The DVD cover photo.Watch this movie because Michael Keaton did many satisfying things creating and telling the story. Hopefully, we'll see more of him as a director and an actor. Hey, Michael, do you read any unsolicited scripts?

craysellers Kelly MacDonald has that quality about her that pulls the male ego into wanting to protect her. I felt it in "The Girl in the Cafe," and I'll never forgive Javier Bardem for keeping his vow in "No Country for Old Men." "The Merry Gentleman" could be titled "Who will Protect Kelly?" Will it be the cop, the hit-man (Keaton) even her "born-again" husband?-they all want to protect her. Her husband is insane, and the cop offends her every time he speaks. Cold-blooded murderer Logan (Keaton), seems to win her heart with coughs, wheezing and repeating twice "I found a girl under a Xmas tree." Keaton's minimalist dialog even has him wheezing for her to quit talking and leave the hospital. If he charms her with any more silver-tongued devilry than that, it must have been edited out. I thought the ending worked; the part that was missing was 'What did she see in him?'