The Extra Man is not a film—it is a sequence of extended personality ticks. No one in the movie remotely approximates a recognizable human being. These are not characters; they are caricatures. We do not care about any caricature nor are given reason to. Forced whimsy is still forced. And yet, as paltry and unsubstantial a film as The Extra Man is, I cannot find it within myself to completely resist its charms. The reason can be summed up in two incandescent words: Kevin Kline.

The Extra Man is the story of two roommates. The first is Henry Harrison (Kline), an eccentric Algonquin throwback who speaks in stentorian tones and considers himself part of a lost aristocracy. The truth is Henry is dirt poor and living in a tiny, dingy, disordered apartment. He fancies himself a disenfranchised playwright and fakes his way through Manhattan high society by making himself arm candy for ancient dowagers at uppity social events. The second, Louis (Paul Dano), is equally born out of time. A disgraced, socially awkward, sexually confused ex-prep school teacher, Louis acts as if he has just climbed out of the pages of an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, complete with pretentious narration. Fresh to New York City and aspiring to write the Great American Novel, Louis is in need of a place to stay and decides, somewhat against his better judgment, to move in with the pompously misogynistic Henry. As the film goes on, the odd couple take on a teacher/student dynamic as the flamboyant bon vivant schools his naive and sensitive protégé in life’s most important pleasures.

Directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (American Splendor) and adapted from the novel by Jonathan Ames, The Extra Man is a tiresome chore. It’s not that we dislike where the film takes it—it simply doesn’t take us anywhere at all. The Extra Man seems to want to leave you with the message that everyone is just a little bit strange (or, in the case of these men, a lot bit). Very well. But it is what you do with that peculiarity that makes your tale compelling. The lack of it turns the film into little more than a traveling circus freak show.

The characters in The Extra Man all aspire to be something they’re not. Yet they certainly never arrive. Not even close. Despite the master/mentor relationship, no one greets the closing credits having learned much of anything about themselves or the world they live in. In fact, it isn’t until late in the film that you realize that just about everyone in the film is, by and large, unlikable. Sure, they are wonderful and quirky and shot through with whimsy, but are they good, decent people? The answer, sadly, is no. Though there is the slightest of redemptive arcs, Henry is clearly just out to use people for what he can get from them and Louis is too much of a confused sadsack to take any sort of responsibility for his desires or his fate. If Henry’s goal is to remain an enigma to those closest to him, he is successful. Meanwhile, Louis, who is convinced he is unlovable, just wants to find a place to belong and is willing to walk the social plank to get there. It’s not as if the filmmakers’ aim was to create characters for us to hold at arms distance; they simply underestimated the degree to which we would tolerate their forced foibles and charms.

The Extra Man fails to be satisfying in nearly all aspects but its acting. Kline is simply glorious. He is one of the few actors who can inspire mental applause just from walking on screen. Only a small number of actors are as infectiously pleasurable, deliciously colorful and deliriously theatrical as he. He and he alone makes the film endurable (OK, John C. Reilly’s cameo turn as Hagrid on helium is fun too, but very, very one-note). For those who find Kline a merely adequate actor, steer clear of The Extra Man. For those of you who, like myself, find a Kline performance something more akin to hypnotic mesmerism, enter with your eyes open, but by all means enter.

© Copyright 2010 Brandon Fibbs. All rights reserved.

Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Starring: Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, John C. Reilly, Katie Holmes
Rated R for some sexual content.
Running Time: 108 minutes