Barney’s Version

Based on the prize-winning comic novel by Mordecai Richler, Paul Giamatti stars as Barney Penofsky, a Jewish misanthrope from Montreal who, at 68, looks back over his life. Barney has three ex-wives, two kids that he`s alienated from, an aging father who`s got the mouth of a sailor and seems fixated on his trial for the murder of his best friend 30 years earlier. But since Barney is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, the audience must derive truth from a memory that may be self-serving or simply impaired. Dustin Hoffman plays Barney’s father, Izzy; and Minnie Driver plays Barney’s supremely annoying second wife. Shot in Montreal and in Rome on a budget thought to be about $25 million, Barney’s Version had its world premiere at the 2010 Venice Film Festival and screened at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. It won seven Genie Awards in 2011.

Northernstars.ca reviews Barney’s Version.
Also see: This film was selected as one of the Top 10 Canadian Films of the 2010s.