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The Films of Stanley Tucci

The Impostors

Joe Gould's Secret

Blind Date

Final Portrait (March 28/18)

Inspired by true events, Final Portrait follows American novelist James Lord (Armie Hammer) as he agrees to sit for a portrait by aging Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush) - with the movie detailing the friendship that ensues between the two men over the course of a few weeks. Filmmaker Stanley Tucci admittedly does an effective job of establishing the specific time and place within which Final Portrait transpires, and it's clear, too, that the movie benefits from the stars' superlative work as the disparate protagonists - with, in particular, Rush stepping into the shoes of his grizzled character to an often enthralling extent. And although the picture suffers from a hit-and-miss vibe that's increasingly more miss than hit, Tucci's character-study sensibilities ensure that large swaths of Final Portrait are far more entertaining than one might've anticipated - with the writer/director's ongoing emphasis on the meticulous artistic process favored by Giacometti certainly standing as a continuing highlight. It's a shame, then, that Final Portrait's second half fizzles out to a somewhat palpable degree, with the progressively hands-off vibe compounded by Tucci's meandering modus operandi and the relatively underdeveloped nature of Hammer's character (particularly when compared to that of Rush's) - which ultimately confirms the movie's place as an actor's showcase that could (and should) have been better.

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© David Nusair