加拿大影片:【巴尼正傳】/ Canadian Movie: Barnery's Version

April 2, 2011 Empire 7 Cinema, Ottawa:

What version?

That was my question before the movie. The answer became clear when I walked out of the cinema.

*** Spoiler alert ***

We all have our own version of life . For Barney who lived in Montreal, life was a mix of ups and downs, and the version was mostly his own making, except at the beginning and end:

- being born "Jewish"; - thinking like a Canadian; - looking up to his feisty, over-sexed father (played by Dusty Hoffman, one of my favourite actors);

- marrying a rich Jewish woman, and falling in love with a New York beauty Miriam on his wedding day;

- pursuing the NY woman;

- being accused of killing his drug-addicted friend who had been found in bed with Barney's wife;

- divorcing and marrying the woman he really loved and raising a family;

- going to bed with a B-movie star on impulse and ending up with another divorce;

- suffering loss of memory and cognitive capacity;

- thinking he was young again and re-dating the beautiful Miriam whom he loved;

- resting in a grave on Mount Royale in Montreal, with an empty plot next to him, with the name Miriam carved on the headstone.

In the end, his ex, who had remarried, still loved him in spite of his infidelity. However, it was unclear whether she would want to be with him after death.

We all have our own version.