Harmony Korine has a talent for revealing the reality in the strange, the melancholy in the ridiculous. He proved this with his debut Kids in which his writing both haunts and enthralls, and though he has since slipped from his pedestal his new endeavor Mr Lonely is a return to form.
Michael's Story
The story follows an isolated Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna), working on the streets of Paris for small change. Michael doesn’t speak the language, and feels disconnected from everyone around him. That is until he meets Marilyn Monroe at a retirement home where he performs. He is immediately captivated and agrees to go with her to the Scottish Highlands where she lives in a commune of impressionists.
In this house full of unrealized dreams the impressionists (including James Dean, Abe Lincoln, The Pope, Madonna, and The Three Stooges) are working together to build a theatre where they will launch ‘the greatest show on earth.’ Michael soon finds himself falling for Marilyn, played with delicate pathos by Samantha Morton, however she is already married to the tyrannical Charlie Chaplin. Still an outcast among outcasts Michael must discover whether you can be whoever you want to be, or whether ultimately you will always be who you are.
The Nuns subplot reveals underlying themes
The main story is occasionally interrupted by a subplot following a miracle that occurs when a nun falls from a plane in Brazil. This story is equally as captivating as the first, with a marvelous performance by Werner Herzog as the zealous priest who brings the miracle to the attention of the Rome. Though seemingly unrelated to the main plot, the nun’s tale serves to tie the film to Korine’s own story; that of quickly rising to fame and then plummeting when faced with Hollywood’s high expectations.
A splendid cast make up for lack of focus in the plot
Though the plot is meandering at times the dazzling array of characters in Mr Lonely are so captivating to watch that it hardly matters. The dialogue is frank and honest often with hilarious results, and the cast do a great job at showing their character’s identities beneath the famous façades. Some scenes are a little too drawn out and indulgent but every scene involving the perfectly cast Morton and Luna is wonderful.
The actor's talent combined with Korine’s heightened realism is breathtaking to observe. Korine has come a long way from the 22 year old writer of Kids. He has learned that Hollywood can be a fickle place; a creator and breaker of stars. With this film he seems to have found a balance between the gritty realism of his early work and the surreal experimentalism that he was bashed for. Consequently Mr. Lonely seems as much his coming of age story as it is Michael and Marilyn’s.
