Indie stalwart Turturro is cast as the quietly exacting Walker, a tormented teacher who’s married to Patricia (Irving) and is having an affair with his colleague Helen (played by German actress Sukowa).Īs an intricately poetic meditation on the nature of fate and happiness, “Thirteen Conversations” deviates from current American indies, most of which lack in scope and ambition. That innocent pedestrian turns out to be Beatrice (DuVall), an honest cleaning woman, who’s earlier seen fantasizing about a different kind of life with one of her richer patrons. Later that night, driving home, Troy hits a pedestrian (whose face is not seen), but decides to drive away from the accident. Needless to say, the ebullient Troy, celebrating another victory as an attorney in the courtroom, doesn’t realize the implications of Gene’s cautionary tale on his life. In an early conversation at a bar during happy hours, Gene tells Troy (McConaughey) a strange morality tale about a man who quit his job after winning millions of dollars in a lottery, but then found himself depressed. In its light, comic moments, Gene’s obsessive relationship with Wade bears the kind of humor and absurdity one finds in Chekhov’s short stories. Wade’s good nature, and willingness to accept whatever happens to him, don’t change even after he’s fired by Gene for no apparent reason. The central character is Gene (Arkin), an envious insurance manager seeking revenge on his co-worker, Wade “Smiley” Bowman (Wise), a man who seems to be perpetually cheerful, unfazed by any tragic event. A reworking of the second incident contributes to the movie’s last, fittingly lyrical image, which depicts a character standing on a subway platform waving to another person on the other side. It may not be a coincidence that the film’s origins are based on two violent acts in Jill’s New York life: a severe head injury as a result of mugging, and a physical brutality by a stranger while riding the subway. Jill and sister-co-scripter Karen examine in their highly controlled, intelligent screenplay those random moments in our routine existence that have life-changing power, often despite ourselves. The high-profile cast, which boasts a superb Alan Arkin and solid performances from John Turturro, Matthew McConaughey, and Clea DuVall, should help this Sony Picture Classic release reach its primary indie and arthouse public, though the film’s demanding texture and deliberate pacing, with too many silences and pauses, might limit broader audience appeal. Interweaving five contemporary stories into a single narrative, the film deals with the profound, often unintentional impact that seemingly disparate people have on one another, while searching for a more meaningful and happier existence.
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