'Merry Gentlemen' a low-Kea (ton) drama
Who would have guessed that Michael Keaton - who burst into the movies as a manic, ADD-styled comedian - could have directed the subtle nuances of an impressive, virtually all-Chicago independent production like "The Merry Gentleman"?
Even more amazing: he hadn't been prepared to direct anything. When an acute appendicitis sidelined original Chicago director (and writer and producer) Ron Lazzeretti, Keaton volunteered to take over, while still performing a leading role.
Keaton and crew went on to create a poignant, arresting story of three people, the three corners of an unusual romantic triangle that deftly sidesteps clichés while generating a real sense of empathy and discovery.
Although Keaton doesn't hail from Chicago, "Merry Gentleman" should qualify him for honorary denizenship. This low-budget production, particularly Chris Seager's ambitious and vibrant camera work, captures the grit, texture and urban personality of the Windy City. The story, despite an overtly poetic ending that lacks dramatic satisfaction, pulls us in slowly with an off-kilter premise. What happens when a young woman becomes involved with two men: one who's good but treats her like a door mat; the other who's evil but treats her like a queen?
Desperate Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald, armed with a Scottish accent capable of turning strong men into jelly) comes to Chicago to escape her abusive marriage to a cop named Michael (Bobby Cannavale in a multilayered performance that avoids stock villainy).
During Christmas, Kate fumbles to get an evergreen into her apartment. Then, a mysterious stranger, a Good Samaritan, appears from nowhere to help her.
Frank Logan (Keaton) doesn't say much. But Kate remembers his kindness enough that when Frank later shows up on her doorstep nearly dead from pneumonia, she calls 911 and starts taking care of him in the hospital. Loneliness bonds them.
She does not know what we know, that Frank moonlights from his Chicago tailor's job as a contract killer. Make that a suicidal contract killer. The night Kate first sees him, he tries to throw himself off a building. He is more successful taking others' lives.
The police know nothing about Frank. Not until a tough, hefty Chicago detective named Murcheson (Des Plaines native and producer Tom Bastounes) turns into jelly upon hearing Kate's aforementioned accent. In one comically understated scene, Murcheson tries to date and interrogate Kate simultaneously at dinner. He has a hunch about the freakishly taciturn Frank.
Macdonald is preciously alive in every scene. Bastounes' take on a Chicago cop is an egoless study of a single guy just doing his job.
Then there's Frank, a dark, blank slate that Keaton humanizes with a subtle sadness that never begs for our empathy, but slowly wrestles it from us nonetheless.
And he does it while also directing "The Merry Gentleman," a dark and oddly warm little Chicago gem laced with black humor and a touch of genuine romance.
"The Merry Gentleman"
Rating: 3 stars
Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Macdonald, Tom Bastounes, Bobby Cannavale
Directed by: Michael Keaton
Other: A Samuel Goldwyn Films release. Rated R (language, violence). 96 minutes.