He Was A Quiet Man (2007)

Cast: Christian Slater, Elisha Cuthbert, William H. Macy
Director: Frank Cappello
Running Time: 109 mins

He Was a Quiet Man is a psychological drama directed by Frank Cappello, best known for his directorial work in American Yakuza and his credited work with the screenplay on Constantine.

The film revolves around Bob Maconel, a depressed and disillusioned office worker who has homicidal thoughts toward his co-workers. After getting pushed around for too long in his work Maconel finally decides to go postal on his colleagues, but before he pulls out his gun he finds that another just like him has already beaten him to it.

He then goes from potential mass murderer to unintentional hero when he uses his gun to end the blood bath and saves the life of Vanessa Parks, the only object of his affection. Nevertheless, Vanessa becomes quadriplegic as a result of her gunshot injuries and insists that Maconel let her wheelchair roll down a subway platform onto an oncoming train to end what she believes to be a worthless life. Vanessa then realises that she is not beyond recovery and decides to stick with Maconel who also receives a promotion as a result of his heroics.

However, Maconel obsesses about Vanessa leaving him after she recovers and falls back into his old depressive ways.

Christian Slater (Interview with the Vampire, Broken Arrow) is not usually known to take roles quite like this one but he certainly did fit into it. He delivers an intense and multi-dimensional performance as the disturbed office worker. He genuinely creates a sense of sympathy in the audience for Maconel who ultimately becomes a sort of anti-hero in the end. His transition from mild-mannered, obsessive sociopath to a more confident type of executive and the way in which he decays into his old self was executed commendably. In fact Slater's performance was what made the film worth watching.

Elisha Cuthbert, best known for her role in the TV series 24 and her role next to Emile Hirsch in The Girl Next Door gave a downright woeful performance as Vanessa. I'm sure all you Popular Mechanics for Kids fans wouldn't be complaining too much but it's necessary to note that her looks played little part in her execution of this role unlike in her previous theatrical ventures and she simply seemed like she didn't know how to handle a three dimensional character.

Clueless would be the one word I would use to describe her performance. William H. Macy is an actor who I have come to appreciate over the years but he gave a formulaic performance as Maconel's boss Gene Shelby. He was solid but sadly forgettable as his character lacked any depth or appeal. The similarities between most of the characters that Macy plays and the way in which he plays them have become more and more noticeable.

Cappello's directing was also interesting in this one, given that he is generally an unknown director who hasn't had much success to speak of. The film is gloomy and has the intensity of a good psychological drama in which loneliness is made a central theme. I found that Maconel's unconventional and delusional relationship with his goldfish from which he seeks advice was a disturbing but original touch.
The film reminded me of Joel Schumacher's Falling Down in which Michael Douglas plays an engineer who goes on a killing spree on his way to see his daughter.

The story is not for everyone as it is long, slow and for the most part uninteresting but for those who love the like of films such as the Taxi Driver and the Machinist, they may enjoy this one. The film is certainly worth a watch if you're serious about your films but it also isn't the most impressive of its kind. As the plot progresses the story line becomes a little more predictable and the end was a little disappointing considering I had already figured out what was going to happen.