THE PALLBEARER

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, language, thematic elements

Rated:

A film like The Pallbearer can either be very insulting to someone or very appealing. I've always loved Gwyneth Paltrow, so I enjoyed her role in the film even if the rest was unsavory. It deals with topics Christians won't like or approve of, which is unfortunate because overall the film has a very sweet heart to it. It's marketed as a romantic comedy but has a rather bittersweet undertone and focuses more on human frailty than laugh-out-loud humor. While the humor is present, it comes in the form of dry comedy, sometimes very off the cuff. What it boils down to is a very real story about growing up and passing from adolescence into adulthood when you really don't know how. Unfortunately, the standards set by this group of young people are nowhere near the high standards we're called to by God. This in itself makes the film a no-brainer -- don't bother with it.

Twenty-five year old Tom Thompson (David Schwimmer) doesn't exactly have a lot going for him right now. He still lives at home with an overprotective mother who treats him like a kid, has never had success with job interviews, and is single. His life is therefore severely shaken when he receives a hysterical phone call from someone named Ruth Abernathy (Barbara Hershey) whose son (whom he presumably knew in high school) has just committed suicide. She wants him to be one of the pallbearers at the funeral. A general pushover, afraid to send her into another riot of tears, Tom agrees -- but can't remember anything about her son! His friends, Brad and Scott, think it's a riot. They also think he's a raving lunatic for going along with it... particularly after Mrs. Abernathy shows up on his front doorstep in tears and asks him to deliver the eulogy.

Things go from complicated to extra-complicated when his old high school crush, Julie DeMarco (Gwyneth Paltrow), returns to town. Eager to impress her but afraid of pushing too hard, Tom fails to make a good impression. Still, by some miracle, she asks to go to the funeral with them. However, she doesn't find his tongue-in-cheek eulogy all that comical. Afraid of insulting Mrs. Abernathy by telling her the truth, Tom carries on his charade of knowing her son. But things go from bad to worse when their empty lives begin to entwine, leading him to a secret affair with the woman while poor Julie deals with problems in her own life. Can he get the mess straightened out before disaster strikes, or is he about to make the biggest mistake of his life? And why can't he remember this supposed high school buddy?

In a nutshell, The Pallbearer tries to be both comical and meaningful but fails due to the immoral nature of the storyline. It really is a pity because in all other ways the two romantic leads (David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow) create a lot of wonderful chemistry together. The comic moments are always humorous and memorable, even if many people might find them in bad taste. (Stumbling through his eulogy at the funeral, his lack of eloquence set the entire back row to giggling.) Eventually the story leads Tom to abandon his ties to home and move out into his own place to find his identity. Julie finally takes that trip she's always dreamed about 'just for her.' There is some sacrifice on the part of Tom in making up after an argument. It's too bad that the film's premise hangs around an affair between a college student and the mother of one of his high school classmates.

The acting is very good. The score is full of fun pop tunes. But the implied content runs all the air out of the proverbial bicycle tires. Language provides something of a problem. One f-word early in the script, along with a good half dozen abuses of Jesus' name, and with other profanity and milder abuses of deity, make it tedious. Sexual content is pretty heavily hinted at but never graphically shown. The scenes between Tom and Mrs. Abernathy have a slightly sexual undertone; the older woman dresses immodestly and likes to hug young men. In an intimate scene they kiss and pull back onto the bed; the camera pans away to find them 'afterward' talking together under the sheets. The most offensive thing about it is by the film's conclusion neither one acknowledges it was wrong. They merely 'needed each other' at that point in time.

At a bachelor party scantily-dressed women dance provocatively on the stage. One of Tom's married friends makes a pass at a young woman. Tom also becomes involved in a sexual relationship with Julie; the two are shown talking under the sheets together. The ending is a bit mismatched -- we don't quite know where their relationship will go from here. When all is said and done The Pallbearer would do best to attend its own funeral. It leads teens under the false pretense that growing up is a learning experience, and the more time you spend getting these experiences, the better life will be. With a lack of a moral foundation, films (and lives) of this nature can only lead to disaster.

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