Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne, and Chris O'Dowd in Juliet, Naked, which offers “a welcome reminder of the worth of traditional values” compared with the lifestyles of many millennials, writes Alan Charlton.
For any moviegoer who, like me, is fed up with the endless stream of comic book heroes and escapist action movies, all backed up with impressive but repetitive CGI, it is good to know that relief is on way. Granted, it comes with the (fortunately misleading) title, Juliet, Naked and is liberally laced with objectionable language, but in other respects it is a surprising and welcome reminder of the worth of traditional values as measured against the prevailing lifestyles of so many millennials.
Juliet, Naked tells the story of Annie (Rosa Byrne) who has followed the example of so many people of her age by moving in with her partner, Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) – a man who, while likeable enough, lives in a state of suspended adolescence. Like so many of their generation, the couple have decided that their relationship will be childless, which in light of Duncan’s obvious immaturity, masquerading as trendy political correctness, is perhaps a good thing.
This immaturity most obviously reveals itself in his obsession with the recordings of a musician, Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hakwe). However, there have been many romantic and glamourous rumours circulating about Crowe, who, many years after his disappearance from the music scene, still commands a cult following. By a series of accidental developments, Annie actually establishes contact with Crowe. She find the reality is far from romantic and that he has engaged in a series of marriages, fathered several children, and now dismisses his recordings as rubbish – though Duncan claims they are profoundly meaningful.
As the story unfolds in a series of comical and wittily expressed convolutions, the main characters arrive at a reassessment of their lives. While this leads to a questioning of all the norms by which they live, it is most brought home to Annie, who works at a museum in a small seaside town. A summer exhibition at which the mayor of the town wishes to take a nostalgic look at the “happening” Sixties ironically helps her to bring into focus the very traditional standards of the time – when people got married, had children, and lived lives of conformity to established norms. All of this looks remarkably attractive to her.
This is not to say that the film completely abandons today’s norms, which clearly question much that was regarded as traditional moral values, but Juliet, Naked is a refreshing admission that what many people today regard with derision may well be what they secretly wish for in their search for fulfillment.
And the beauty of this is the message is conveyed in an entertaining fashion, one which is never preachy and to which few can object, no matter how scornfully they may look at the “old-fashioned” values.
Beautifully acted, with an Oscar-worthy performance by Rosie Byrne and a reminder of what an engaging performer Ethan Hawke is, Juliet, Naked is indeed a welcome change from the cinematic predictability of so much else on view. And the title? It’s simply the name of a song made famous by the former rock star who features so significantly in the movie.
Fortunately, too, while Juliet, Naked is vastly different from so much on the screen today, now that summer is over and award season looms ahead, film fans are able to look forward to more satisfying releases in the months to come. That will indeed be a welcome development.