The Great Buck Howard

Jun 10, 2009
By Monika Hanley

It’s been a while since a good indie film hit the screen here in Latvia, and “The Great Buck Howard” fills that void – although any film combining movie greats Tom Hanks and John Malkovich would fill most cinematic voids.

Based on legendary entertainer “The Amazing Kreskin,” the movie follows a has been ‘mentalist’ – who is adamant about not being confused with a magician – named Buck Howard (Malkovich) who has gone from being a regular on the Johnny Carson show to performing in half filled community centers.

Enter Colin Hanks as Troy Gable, a law student drop out and Howard’s new personal assistant. This all happens without the knowledge of Troy’s father (Colin’s real life father, Tom) who assumed he was still in law school and becomes livid about his choice to drop out.
In between managing Buck Howard’s waning career, Troy finds himself striving to become a writer. He is inspired by a spunky publicist played by Emily Blunt.

The movie starts out a bit slow, but picks up after Howard manages to put 300 people to sleep using mass hypnosis. The media attention for this stunt, however, was diverted as Jerry Springer happened to get into a car accident right as the stunt was underway.
By some miracle, the media still gets wind of the miraculous results of the stunt and propels Howard into greater stardom than before.

Whether this newly renewed fame lasts or not is left up to Buck Howard and his large ego.
The film carries several ideas. The idea of an older man, afraid to let go of his greatest success again, and the idea of a young man trying to figure himself out by letting the winds blow him along until he finds his niche.

The movie first premiered at the Sundance film festival. It is good for people who aren’t sure what they want to do with their lives, but are enjoying the journey regardless. Though not necessarily on the “must-see” list of the season, the movie is definitely one of the top picks of anything that has come out this year.

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