There is no denying that within the troubled man that was Vincent van Gogh resided the heart of an artist. He was a man intensely dependent on painting. For him it was as vital as air or food. At the same time van Gogh’s struggles with mental health are almost as legendary as the timeless art he left behind. “At Eternity’s Gate” seeks to bring this immensely talented but deeply troubled man to life.

Director and co-writer Julian Schnabel, a painter himself, focuses his film on the last few years of van Gogh’s life. His intention is to capture the spirit of the artist more so than provide an authentically detailed historical account. It’s an approach that allows for him to use his film as a canvas and his camera as his brush. Much like the thick, heavy stroke of van Gogh’s brush, Schnabel and cinematographer Benoît Delhomme lean heavily on visual technique to emote and inform.

Van Gogh is played by 63-year-old Willem Dafoe and some have pointed out the age discrepancy between actor and character (Van Gogh died at age 37). But mere seconds into his first scene it’s clear that Dafoe is the perfect choice. Always the immersive actor, Dafoe prepared for the role by learning to paint, scouring over van Gogh’s many letters, and visited the French countryside, gazing upon many of the same landscapes that found there way onto the artist’s canvases.

Schnabel paints us an intimate portrait that seeks to get in the painter’s headspace and show us things from his perspective (at times even using his camera in first-person). This proves to have a duel effect. First it gives us a riveting look at the creative impulses that drove him to paint and the near therapeutic joy he took from it. We see it in these entrancing sequences where van Gogh takes off walking, loaded with painting gear, searching for inspiration and nature’s perfect image. The gorgeous locales, Dafoe’s impassioned and affecting portrayal, the exquisite piano chords from Tatiana Lisovskaya score all work together to help us see things as Vincent sees them.

Second, we experience the cracks in his sanity from his point of view. Simple anxieties slowly give way to voices and visions which haunt the artist but tragically inspire some of his best work. The deeper the dive into his tormented psyche the more Schnabel blurs the lines between Vincent’s visions and reality. Not only does he begin questioning what he sees, but so do we. Through it all the film smartly makes no judgements nor does it try and diagnose his madness.

Along the way we get some fabulous supporting work, mostly in small parts but each equally good. Oscar Isaac is a nice fit as fellow post-Impressionist (and short-time friend) Paul Gauguin. Rupert Friend is really good as Vincent’s supportive brother Theo. And Mads Mikkelsen has a short but brilliant scene playing a priest tasked with determining Vincent’s mental fitness.

“Sometimes my mind goes out on me.” It’s a heartbreaking line from a tortured soul trying to make some sense of his mental decline. These laments of introspection and self-examination are countered with touching creative moments where Vincent, with a child-like wonder, loses himself in his art and the natural beauty that inspired it. And it’s all conveyed without leaning on sentimentality or needless melodrama.

Vincent van Gogh’s death in 1890 has long been attributed to suicide but that belief has since come up for debate. Schnabel’s film sides with biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith who in 2011 presented a much different and arguably more rational theory. Their idea definitely feels right for this particular portrait which I quite loved. And among the many cinematic turns taken at depicting van Gogh’s life (and there have been some good ones), “At Eternity’s Gate” is my new favorite.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

“The Intouchables” was a funny yet sensitive 2011 French dramedy that became a mammoth box office hit. In France it still sits as the second highest grossing French film of all-time. It was a movie loaded with charm, with a great chemistry between its two leads, and an unforgettable score from Ludovico Einaudi. It would go on to spawn several international remakes including the new (and inevitable) American version titled “The Upside”.

Without question “The Upside” has had a rocky path to the big screen. It actually premiered back in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Unfortunately it was one of several movies put aside and eventually sold off in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Now two years later it has a distributor and has found its way to theaters.

The story centers around the unlikely friendship between Phillip Lacasse (Bryan Cranston), an extremely wealthy but deeply depressed quadriplegic and Dell Scott (Kevin Hart), a man just out on parole who desperately needs a job to stay out of prison. Phillip haphazardly hires Dell to be his live-in caretaker against the recommendation of his loyal but uptight assistant Yvonne (Nicole Kidman).

These two polar opposites form a bond that goes beyond their economic and racial differences. Dell offers Phillip the chance to feel alive again while Phillip gives Dell an opportunity to earn back the trust of his estranged wife (Aja Naomi King) and son (Jahi Di’Allo Winston). The movie sprinkles in several ‘fish out of water’ gags along the way, some of them landing better than others.

As you would expect Cranston is solid but it’s Hart who surprises. He has always been an actor I could only handle in small doses. Here he dials back his hyperactive brand of comedy and gives what is easily some of his best work. The problem is director Neil Burger and writer Jon Hartmere barely push these characters. Cranston and Hart are left with good chemistry but plenty of unexplored territory.

Despite the nice performances, the central relationship in “The Upside” doesn’t quite have the same energy and charm we got with François Cluzet and Omar Sy. Also missing is any real tension between them. “The Intouchables” begins with a genuine disconnect which makes the journey towards respect and friendship more compelling. With one lone exception “The Upside” keeps everything pretty lukewarm, once again missing out on some good dramatic opportunities.

I don’t want to be too hard on the film. Much like the original it still has a good story to tell and uses some strong performances to tell it. While some have taken shots at the movie for its lack of angry modern-day racial commentary, I wonder if they have forgotten this is based on a true story. The film’s investment is in telling us about this crazy and unique friendship. In doing so it may not hit every note it should, but it still manages to be a worthwhile watch.