Video: Not Quite Tootsie

By: Holley Sinn

Verdict: Approved

In the past few years, I've found myself looking at movies differently.  I don't know if my tastes are beginning to age or if I'm just coming at my judgments from a new perspective, but my unconscious ratings system is certainly much different than it was when I was in my 20s.  This week's film might have received an entirely different response from me had I seen it at 25, but at 32, it was oddly resonant and creepily beautiful.  "Albert Nobbs" is a tail of gender-bending in 19th century Ireland - a time when work was scarce, and folks would go to great lengths to secure and retain employment.  Glenn Close gives perhaps the performance of her lifetime in the title role, but her transformation might make it difficult for audiences to ever see her in quite the same way again.

"Albert Nobbs" stars Glenn Close as a strange but demure little man, who is actually a woman, working as a waiter in a Dublin hotel.  There is a somewhat stilted but cheerful rapport amongst the hotel staff that is consistent in its oddity.  However, the normalcy is interrupted when a young boiler operator named Joe Mackins, played by Aaron Johnson, joins the fray along with a stout painter named Mr. Page, played by Janet McTeer.   When Mr. Nobbs is asked to share a room with Mr. Page, his secret is revealed, but he quickly learns that he has a kindred spirit in the surly painter who is, in fact, a woman as well.

Mr. Nobbs and Mr. Page form a friendship, and Mr. Page explains his choice to leave an alcoholic man in order to marry a kind dressmaker woman.  Mr. Nobbs becomes fascinated by the idea of having a wife and sets his sights on a young maid named Helen, played by Mia Wasikowska.  The problem is that Helen has already begun a relationship with Joe Mackins who encourages her to play into Albert's courtship in order to obtain gifts and money.  Albert has a dream of opening his own tobacco shop and has been saving for quite some time, so he is the wealthiest servant in the hotel. 

Typhoid Fever sweeps the area, killing Mr. Page's wife and some of the servants in the hotel.  Albert too becomes ill but somehow survives and becomes even more devoted to the idea of marrying Helen, who is carrying Joe's child.  While there are many important identity and gender questions posed in this film, the real prevailing idea is the definition, or lack of, for love.  Despite the fact that Mr. Nobbs cannot seem to define himself as male or female, he still loves Helen deeply - perhaps not in the traditional romantic sort of way, but in a way that is fiercely self-denying and protective.  Aside from incredible performances by both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer, the film is marked by stunning cinematography and expert direction by Rodrigo Garcia who is known best to me and many others by his work on the groundbreaking HBO series, "In Treatment". 

"Albert Nobbs" is coming out in limited release in this market - meaning it will be playing at a handful of theaters, so check your local listings.  It is rated "R" for some sexuality and brief nudity, and I can guarantee you won't be bored if you take the time to seek it out.