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Anita Pallenberg, Denis Lavant, Diego Luna

In Paris, a young American who works as a Michael Jackson lookalike meets Marilyn Monroe, who invites him to her commune in Scotland, where she lives with Charlie Chaplin and her daughter, Shirley Tem...( read more  read more... )ple.

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60% liked it

3,097 ratings

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46% liked it

68 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Harmony Korine

Release Date: May 22, 2007

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DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (508)

  • mistershinobi
    June 4, 2009
    mistershinobi
    If you're a movie (picture yourself as a movie), and you're slow-paced and quiet (picture everybody yawning), then I'll definitely love you to death (picture me loving you, with a smile on my face) and I won't, I repeat, I won't be bored.

    I tried really hard to lov...( read more)e this movie. I really did. But the plot (MJ impersonator lives in a comune with other impersonators) was so extraordinary on paper and the beauty of some scenes was so amazing, that I hate Harmony Korine for ruining the precious sack of gold he had in his hands and turning it into one of the least interesting films I've ever seen. Nothing, I insist, nothing that happened on the screen captured my heart, not even for a single second. It's a shame because Diego Luna actually manages to show depth and range as he has never showed before and Samantha Morton feels uncomfortable in what could've been her best performance yet but, of course, it wasn't.

    Just like Michel Gondry without Charlie Kaufman, I feel that Harmony Korine without Larry Clark is all over the place, sometimes genius, sometimes dumb. The boy needs guidance and focus... and some actual character development. To make your lead role disappear for so much time as if it wasn't important and then trying to shove it down our throats before the ending is just too rookie to be true.

    It's only the second time in my life that I find myself editing a movie inside my head while I'm watching it and thinking: "Damn... it could've been so much better."

    And, do we really need to discuss the nuns? Herzog: stay behind the camera.
  • EarthlyAlien
    January 8, 2009
    EarthlyAlien
    "I don't know if you know what it is like to want to be someone else, to not want to look like you look, to hate your own face and to go completely unnoticed. I have always wanted to be someone else. I have never felt comfortable the way I am. All I want is to be better than m...( read more)yself, to become less ordinary and to find some purpose in this world. It is easier to see things in others, to see things you admire and then try and become that. To own a different face, to dance a different dance, and sing a different song. It is out there waiting for us, inviting us to change. It is time to become who we are not. To change our face and become who we want to be. I think the world is a better place that way."

    Photobucket

    Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely is one of the strangest (in a quiet, occasionally compelling way) films I've ever seen. It's also a bit frustrating because it could have been great. It starts out with a great idea: a Michael Jackson impersonator meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator in the streets of Paris who takes him to a remote commune for celebrity impersonators in Scotland, where she lives with her husband Charlie Chaplin and daughter Shirley Temple, along with the Pope, the Queen of England, James Dean, Madonna, the Three Stooge and Abraham Lincoln.

    Once Jackson settles into this would-be paradise for people who aren't quite what they seem, things start to go a bit awry. Jealousies lurk beneath the surface and start to bubble over; the commune's sheep population gets sick and has to be taken down; and tensions rise. The group pulls together a celebrity impersonator variety show that they hope will attract crowds from far and wide to see and appreciate what they do, but in that effort, too, nothing comes out quite the way they'd hoped.

    Interspersed with the impersonator storyline, we have an odd little side story involving a priest (Werner Herzog) and some nuns, who seem to be running some sort of aid operation. I kept waiting for that bit to converge somehow with the whole celeb impersonator bit, but it never happened. I suppose that loosely, there might be some underlying statement being made about the loss of personal identity - the impersonators give up who they really are to try to become the celebs they're pretending to be, while the nuns, garbed in blue burqua-esque nun-frocks that conceal all but their faces, have an oblique sameness that obliterates personal identity as well. Beyond that, though, there didn't seem to be much tying the two stories together.

    The idea of a group of celebrity impersonators living together on a commune is the kind that makes you go "why didn't I ever think of that?," with so much potential to be really great, which makes the missteps along the way are all the more frustrating. Korine takes this interesting core of an idea and then spends the next 108 minutes meandering through the storyline, taking his time getting around to (very loosely) reaching a conclusion. The film is shot by young Danish cinematographer Marcel Zyskind (Michael Winterbottom's frequent DP), and his work here is fine. There are plenty of lovely wide shots throughout the film, though occasionally the lighting is a bit too harsh. The opening shot of the film, though, with Michael riding a tiny motorbike with a stuffed monkey attached to it, is breathtaking.

    Diego Luna gives a solid enough performance as Michael; I wouldn't have thought of him as a "Michael Jackson type" based on his previous work, but he's quite believable in assuming the Jackson persona; in an early scene where he's practising his dance moves at home before going out to work, there's some subtle acting going on beneath the dancing that's quite nice. He's really at his best later in the film, when things fall apart and you can see more of the real person underneath coming out from beneath the persona.

    The great Samantha Morton turns in a solid performance, too, as Monroe, committing her all to the role of a woman who, like the real Marilyn, is beautiful on the surface, but full of pain and uncertainty underneath. These two largely carry the film, though there is a particularly funny moment with the Pope in bed with Queen Elizabeth that was pretty hilarious. French actor Denis Lavant is pretty good too, as Chaplin. Korine has his own unique brand as a filmmaker, and I'd certainly rather see a filmmaker take chances than do the same-old, same-old, but in the places where the ideas don't seem to come together, it falls into feeling more self-indulgent than artistic. And yet, in spite of all that, of all the films I've seen in my lifetime, this is one I keep thinking about and trying to figure out, so I suppose that, in all fairness, I have to say that on some level the film worked for me, frustrated though I felt with it at times.

    The idea of people giving up their identities, either as nuns or impersonators, intrigues me with how it mirrors the hiding people do in their everyday lives. We don't all dress up like Michael Jackson or Marilyn Monroe, or shroud ourselves beneath a nun's garment, but we do wear different faces and personalities for different situations, becoming one person on the job, another at home with the people we love, another when we're at a cocktail party around people we don't know.

    Is Korine making some broader statement about self-identity and the ways in which we all bury ourselves beneath invented identities? I'm not sure if that's exactly what he was going for with Mister Lonely, but that's at least part of what I took out of it, which I suppose makes it a valid take for me. After all, art is a merging of both the perception the artist brings to the work and the perception the viewer takes into looking at it. Mister Lonely is the kind of film you have to work hard to get something out of, but, like the celebrity impersonators at the heart of the film, there's more to it than what you see on the surface. And maybe that's the whole point, after all.
  • StaisilD
    December 30, 2008
    StaisilD
    Michael Jackson: "I don't know if you know what it is like to want to be someone else, to not want to look like you look, to hate your own face and to go completely unnoticed. I have always wanted to be someone else. I have never felt comfortable the way I am. All I want is to be...( read more) better than myself, to become less ordinary and to find some purpose in this world. It is easier to see things in others, to see things you admire and then try and become that. To own a different face, to dance a different dance, and sing a different song. It is out there waiting for us, inviting us to change. It is time to become who we are not. To change our face and become who we want to be. I think the world is a better place that way."


    A lonely Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) is not having a lot of success. He goes out into the town square, does all of his moves, and waits for people to throw quarters into his bucket. They rarely do. Michael is ready for a change. One day, he meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton). Marilyn invites Michael to come away with her to a very special place, a place where only impersonators can live. The residents of this place include Charlie Chaplin (Denis Lavant), The Pope (James Fox), Abraham Lincoln (Richard Strange), Sammy Davis Jr. (Jason Pennycooke), James Dean (Joseph Morgan), Little Red Riding Hood (Rachel Korine), Madonna (Melita Morgan), Buckwheat (Michael-Joel Stuart), Shirley Temple (Esme Creed-Miles), and others. Michael reluctantly agrees to go along with Marilyn, and soon finds himself in a strange and intoxicating new world. Meanwhile, somewhere in South America, something very strange has happened. A priest (Werner Herzog) and a group of nuns were flying over starving villages, dropping bags of rice down on them from the sky. Unfortunately, one of the nuns accidentally fell out of the plane during the trip. Rather than falling to her death, the nun prayed that she would have the ability to fly, and she was able to do so. Now she is attempting to convince the other nuns that they can fly, and the priest is hoping that this miracle will give him a chance to drink beer with the Pope. The performances are acceptable under the circumstances, with most of the actors hanging on for dear life as the picture moves from comedy to forbidding drama to a full-out musical with breakneck speed. Morton and Luna are perhaps the most compelling, being the only two cast members to achieve a rounded presentation of solitude. The pleasure of Korine's films is in their free-form narrative style, but once we're on the island, Mister Lonely gets stuck and begins to feel repetitive. "Mister Lonely" stays faithful to the filmmaker's taste for the fringe, only now the objects of social isolation are endearing souls who have separated themselves from the world to live in a communal fantasyland where ridicule is unable to plague their daily existence.
  • bort16
    October 23, 2008
    bort16
    Well, it's been 8 years since Harmony Korine made a film. The last time we saw him was in Julien Donkey-Boy, before that Gummo. Both those movies passed through eyes of which the majority had no understanding. Roger Ebert, in his review of Julien Donkey Boy, referred to Korine as...( read more) on a list with such names as Herzog, Cassevetes, Tarkovsky, Brakhage, Godard, etc. The reason: because he smashed the boundaries of how a conventional filmmaker would have told such tales. He also pointed out the near death of the underground film scene. There once was a time when if you were a film buff, you sought out films like these, and sat willfully in old one screen cinemas. And you were not alone: It's hard to believe now, but yes people lined up around street corners to see the Godard's or Tarkovsky's. Now those lineups are reserved for the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean and Spiderman.
    That kind of film buff is now a rare breed. We exist, and gleefully buy our tickets and run to the theatres, but we're no longer shoulder to shoulder or lined up around the corner. Take as an anecdote a few trips made to my local film festival. I saw a Bela Tarr film, and in my idealism rushed to get there early so i could get a seat. Though later I realized that the auditorium was only maybe half full, at best, in one of the smallest auditoriums in the city. When I first saw Mister Lonely, it was of course the same.

    But I digress. The point? Mister Lonely, like Korine's two previous directorial outings, dare to be different, dare to be bold, and so are destined to go unappreciated. Even Ebert, who praised Julien Donkey-Boy only gave the film 2 stars - though he did wish he could give a 2 star positive review. The problem with making a film like Mister Lonely is that its so odd that everyone gets caught up on the oddity. A common gripe: "sure its original, but what's the point?"

    Mister Lonely, written by Korine and his brother Avi, sets its sights on the world of celebrity impersonators. Mainly are Michael Jackson (Luna) and Marilyn Monroe (Morton). He meets her while working a bizarre gig at an old folks home, as they sit half amused, half catatonic. She invites him back to her commune in the highlands of Scotland, inhabited by their kind: Abe Lincoln, James Dean, Madonna, the Queen, the Pope, Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Stooges, and Charlie Chaplin and Shirley Temple, who are her husband and daughter, respectively of course.
    They live in their own world. The only thing that ties them to the real world is a flock of sheep.
    To them, their world seems as perfect as they want it to be, for they are the truest souls of all as they cloak themselves in the lives and manners of others. Or so that is their claim. To showcase their talents and philosophy, they build a theatre where they will put on shows for themselves, and the townsfolk.
    Although their is light heartedness and tender sweetness, something else seems to be sinister. Charlie Chaplin is an egomaniac, and emotionally abusive towards his wife, Marylin Monroe. To everyone else he is courteous and, well, Chaplin-esque. She tells him that sometimes he looks more like Hitler than Chaplin.
    Though the film retains its tenderness, its big shift comes with the slaughter of sheep. They are infected, and even the living must be killed. All gather round as Larry, Curly and Moe pull the triggers of double barrel shotguns. In a way, their fantasy reality is not so much shattered, but breached.

    Punctuating this is a story about flying nuns, who believe that they can jump from the priests plane (played with absurd hilarity by Werner Herzog himself) and land safely on the ground below.
    Although Korine has always found the beauty in his own chaos, Mister Lonely is a much more aesthetic film than his others. It has a certain level of visual prestige that few others would even strive to. Many images are quite simply breathtaking. The sequences of Nuns, accentuated in their sky blue robes against the sky blue skies are some of my favorite in any film.
    And, yes, there is a point. What is it? I think I know, though I'm positive its up to some personal interpretation. And for that matter, a review is not the proper place for such a discussion. This much can be said though, its poignant, touching, and genuinely heartbreaking and life affirming at once.
    Films like this exist to be based solely upon their own merit. Even though Mister Lonely has some thematic similarities to, say, Sweet Movie (which Korine has said was an influence on his career), it is still something all together unique.
    The problem with films like Mister Lonely, though, is that they must be taken totally literally or not at all, or maybe both at the same time. That is a lot to ask of an audience, especially now. But, I ask, is that not the point of good filmmaking?
  • johnd62
    May 30, 2008
    johnd62
    Harmony Korine has made his first film after his underrated Gummo and his underwhelming Julien-Donkey-Boy. While Mister Lonely is his most mature work to date you just wish that after 10 years that Korine would have picked up a camera a bit more cause he's gotten a bit rusty.
    ...( read more)/>Not to say that Mister Lonely doesn't have some great moments. Mostly because of the great ensemble cast of Samantha Morton, Diego Luna and Denis Lavant (Who doesn't love foul mouthed Abe Lincoln.) but Korine drags his talent because of a lack of structure, symbolism overkill and just some really pointless scenes. That I feel as though if Harmony focused more on film during the decade he would have easily fixed. It's still an ok film and great to see someone as interesting he is back but God dammit I didn't love it the way I should have.
  • jezzstjezz
    October 18, 2009
    jezzstjezz
    Not as good as I thought it would be, but definitely a lot weirder than I expected.

    Some pretty nice messages along the movie and also unthinkable scenes, but that's pretty much it.
  • officiallyme
    October 18, 2009
    officiallyme
    i really wanna see this movie :)
  • onomatopee
    October 2, 2009
    onomatopee
    Harmony Korine made another weird film but I still think it's pretty mainstream compared to Gummo for instance. It seems that people didn't really enjoy it but I had a great kick out of it. The cast is awesome, the costumes are superb and the whole story is just fascinating.
  • 5oclockcoffee
    September 24, 2009
    5oclockcoffee
    Add a review (optional)...
  • SadisticMinister
    September 14, 2009
    SadisticMinister
    Diego Luna..

    It was odd. And nice.
    But it never really grips you.. you know what I mean?

    I'm starting to rellay like Samantha Morton.

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Critic Reviews

May 30, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film doesn't work, and indeed seems to have no clear idea of what its job is, and yet (sigh) there is the temptation to forgive its trespasses simply because it is utterly, if pointlessly, original. full review

May 23, 2008
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Like Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth, the film has overarching problems yet contains diamonds of clarity and inspiration that you won't find in any dozen movies. You'll have to mine for tho... full review

May 2, 2008
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Occasionally there is a striking image or a moment of wounded sweetness, but mainly the film provides ample proof that it's possible to be bizarre and boring at the same time. full review

April 30, 2008
Armond White, The New York Press

Mister Lonely is an offshoot of our celebrity-mad culture, like the National Enquirer morphing into The Maury Povich Show. full review

April 30, 2008
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

This is undoubtedly a small movie, but it's also more than that: it's a small, imperfect world.

April 28, 2008
David Edelstein, New York Magazine

The film is pretty ramshackle, full of obvious group improvisations that fail to spark and an overdose of bathos. full review

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