With screenplay by Oren Moverman adapted from Stephen Amidon’s 2004 novel of the same name, as well as influenced by the earlier Italian film adaptation by Paolo Virzi, director Marc Meyers delivers a multi-perspective telling of an event that, thanks to strong performances filled with emotional intensity, builds to an explosive revelatory conclusion as a slow burn, keeping one on the edge of their seat the entire time as each new perspective of the story unfolds.
Opening with an academic achievement dinner, we meet two distinctly different families as all anxiously await the awards announcement hoping (and expecting) that Jamie, son of well-to-do hedgefund manager Quint and his noticeably unhappy wife Carrie, will receive top honors. Joining at the table are Jamie’s girlfriend Shannon and her middle-class realtor dad Drew and her stepmother Ronnie who is a therapist. Running in different economic circles, Quint and Carrie have never met Drew and Ronnie although their children are dating. As comes as no surprise, the setting is ripe for a clash of the classes thanks to Quint’s nose-in-the air flair for superiority and Drew’s drooling anxiousness to connect with Quint and get his own taste of the golden goose.
The story then shifts to Drew’s POV and we learn quite a bit about him as he digs himself ever deeper into a financial hole both with Ronnie, with his banker, and with Quint who learns that Drew lied on his SEC investment forms. Topping that off, Ronnie is pregnant.
Moving on to Carrie we are privy to her unhappiness and the tension within her marriage to Quint. Dismissive of her, Quint believes that everything can be made better with money. Unfortunately, after promising to fulfill Carrie’s dream of restoring and renovating a historic local theatre and turning it into an art center, Quint pulls the plug because of his own monetary malfeasance.
And then there are the teens, Shannon and Jamie. Long believed to be the perfect couple, it doesn’t take long to realize that the feeling isn’t mutual for Jamie, leading to a tearful and heartbreaking break-up for Shannon. But, quick to rebound, Shannon takes comfort in Ian, a social outcast who also happens to be a patient of Ronnie’s.
The individual perspectives ultimately converge thanks to an accident in which a young man, a waiter we first meet at the awards banquet, is in an accident when struck by a silver SUV while riding his bike home after the banquet, a night which finds all of the principals potentially involved in the accident.
Moverman’s temporal structure is more than effective as we start with the night in question and work backwards, leading up to that point, but repeating the sequence of the past few days from each person’s individual viewpoint a la “Vantage Point”. Building the suspense is that we never quite know what the ultimate trigger point result is until late in the third act which makes this even more of a pot boiler. Kudos to Moverman’s cogency within the story structure as the temporal character focal point jumps are never confusing.
Distinctive perspectives on wealth and money are extremely well integrated within the storyline not only on the page, but through director Meyers’ visual design and tonal bandwidth. Through HUMAN CAPITAL we see both the joy and pain that monetary wealth brings, the expectations it imposes, the stress and angst that comes with aspirations for wealth, and ultimately, asking the key question – what is true wealth and true wealth in life.
Casting is exemplary with exceedingly strong performances. All are outstanding. As comes as no surprise, Peter Sarsgaard excels at always having a creepy or untrustworthy vibe to him and does so here as Quint. Marisa Tomei is really turning in some award-worthy heavyweight dramatic turns of late and as Carrie, it’s one of her best. Liev Schreiber turns in a more downtrodden and “behind the eightball” performance as Drew which is quite a leap as Schreiber typically tackles characters who are so strong and in control. But it’s a nice change from form and he makes Drew’s angst palpable. Love his performance here. Maya Hawke is, in a word, WOW. The apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree with her talent. She is exuberance and angst personified with a believable and resonant spin on Shannon. While Hawke and Fred Hechinger meld nicely as Shannon and Jamie, respectively, the chemistry between Hawke and Alex Wolff’s Ian is riveting. They spark with deep understanding.
Unfamiliar with cinematographer Kat Westergaard before this film, one look at HUMAN CAPITAL has made me an admirer of her work. Creating a distinctive metaphoric visual tonal bandwidth with Meyers, Westergaard brings an intimacy to her lensing and framing, as well as a fluidity of camera movement which speaks to the fluidity of life, the world, and the characters, yet when all are together such as at the dinner, camera movement stops and we feel the static nature of the gathering of these people which equates to the static nature of their dynamic between the families. Standoffish, stick in the mud, unwavering. Steadicam or sticks appear to come into play with all scenes involving Drew and Quint. Love the wider shots of Carrie inside the theatre she is so desperate to save. It speaks volumes as to how far Carrie has strayed from her original dreams in life. She is now an outsider looking in. The visual crafting of Carrie’s world is truly standout within the film.
Marcelo Zarvos’ score for HUMAN CAPITAL is magnificent. Score is sparsely used which is a plus with this story so that what we do hear is telling and extremely moving. The piano work is particularly effective. The third act is where score/sound design really soar, sounding like an orchestra tuning as before a concert with a mash of every instrument and we find Ian on the floor, at which point softer piano comes in. Simply exquisite sonically and tonally. Nice musical and aural bookending comes thanks to the orchestra tuning we hear in the first act with the stage being set at the awards dinner and ultimately the third act.
Directed by Marc Meyers
Written by Oren Moverman based on Stephen Amidon’s novel of the same name
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard, Maria Tomei, Maya Hawke, Alex Wolff
by debbie elias, 11/10/2019
