Angela LoSasso
Web Content Manager, Imaging and Printing Group, U.S.

Photo courtesy of WireImage/ Vespa

I didn’t go into the theater expecting The Great Buck Howard to “move” me – and it didn’t. But what it did well was entertain me for about and hour and half. And that’s a success in my book. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with a feel-good movie that has solid performances from actors I enjoy watching.

Colin Hanks (Orange County, Untraceable) plays the law school dropout Troy Gable who reluctantly accepts the position of Buck’s road manager/personal assistant. “Caring” for Buck initially involves the typical entry-level, earn-your-stripes stuff – such as arranging the rental car and acting as stage manager and running through preshow routines with whatever bush league venue they’re playing.

But as the story unfolds with predictable and some semi-predictable turns, I enjoyed how the “caring” evolved (the feel-good part). Malkovich nails the cheese factor – his head- and shoulder-tilt during the piano and singing portion of his road show reminded me all-too-well of real-life lounge lizards I’ve encountered in long-forgotten Holiday Inns – and yet conveys a vulnerability that’s entirely believable. Hanks builds on his foundation of solid performances to date. Much like his father Tom but very much in his own way, this Hanks exudes an “everyday” quality that makes him immediately acceptable in that there’s something there in his looks, in his voice, and in his reactions that elicit recognition of someone you know and like.

I wouldn’t say this movie is date-night material, but it is worthy of a pick-me-up matinee.

sundance, sundance film festival, 2008 sundance film festival, hp, hewlett packard, john malkovich, colin hanks, the great buck howard