As critics continue to shred John Slattery’s (‘Mad Men’) directorial debut to pieces, this film critic must respectfully disagree. Although there are script issues and subplots that seemingly go nowhere, at its heart,’God’s Pocket’ is a decent feature.
Mickey Scarpato (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) lives in God’s Pocket with his wife, Jeanie (Christina Hendricks), and his stepson Leon (Caleb Landry Jones), whose behavior is a little unhinged. After a misfortune befalls him at work, they prepare to make arrangements for his funeral. Jeanie, a native of God’s Pocket and, therefore, all too familiar with its citizen’s disregard for the law, senses foul play and prods Mickey to investigate. In the midst of trying to secure funeral arrangements and look into Leon’s death, all things that could go wrong with his progress do and, thus, release a chain of unfortunate events.
As audiences would expect from the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman, his acting is superb in this film. While the situation worsens with the funeral date drawing near, Hoffman remains intense in his performance as his demeanor goes from calm to ticking bomb. It feels like a very true portrayal of an outsider as he’s not a native of this small town (a trait that the citizens of God’s pocket constantly remind him). His reactions are our reactions and, in his acting, he’s an excellent judge of our character.
Screenwriters John Slattery and Alex Metcalf write ‘God’s Pocket’ as a dark, comedy drama. Most scenes, while they do contain more than a touch of sorrow, Slattery and Metcalf sprinkle in dialogue that suggests otherwise. As a story that centers around a man who can’t find the money for a proper funeral–at least, in the eyes of his grieving wife–there are some moments in the film where one cannot help but laugh (i.e., a scene where Mickey is trying to trade in a meat truck to a dealership).
‘God’s Pocket’, with its main story, is one that’s a bit reminiscent of a Coen Brother’s film with how it makes light–through humor–of a dark situation. The subplots, however, don’t add anything to the story and are more of a distraction from the main story line. These smaller stories, although they involve our main characters are almost separate films, especially regarding Jeanie. In her grief, her connection with her husband begins to drift as he becomes increasingly distracted with ways in which to provide her son with a nice funeral. While an interesting concept–a marriage crumbling after a child’s death–it takes an interesting turn and one that involves an older, lonely journalist in Richard Shelburn (Richard Jenkins). The narrative also goes on to explain more about Shelburn’s background and his depressive state. Without the focus being on Mickey and Jeanie, opportunities to explore the state of their relationship, parental issues that might have been an instrumental part in their son’s demise, and the unwritten politics that write themselves in God’s Pocket, the film may not have been so uneven.
Still, the main story in ‘God’s Pocket’ is fairly enjoyable in all of its quirky and humorous glory. Phillip Seymour Hoffman gives a lovely performance and, as a whole, this film is a decent start to John Slattery’s career as a director.
Jim’s Rating: 6.75/10