Color Me Kubrick

In this film, John Malkovich plays Stanley Kubrick, the alcoholic, promiscuous , flaming homosexual British film director. The preceding statement was a con. In fact, Malkovich plays Alan Conway, the bizarre old queen that pretends to be Kubrick for the purpose of milking is marks for favors (sexual and otherwise) in the “true-ish” story.

Conway knows so little about Kubrick that he accepts praise for “Judgment at Nuremberg”, which was not a Kubrick film at all. Conway doesn't look anything at all like Kubrick either and excuses that by explaining that he shaved his beard. I was surprised that Conway even knew Kubrick had a beard. Even so Conway manages get away with this for several years, despite the real Kubrick being informed.

I was a bit disappointed by this one, I'm afraid. John Malkovich does give a great performance as can be expected. The film itself is disjointed and episodic without a coherent plot. When we think Conway has hit rock bottom after being discovered to be fraud, its just time for another conning episode. The film also never fully explores Conway's character. There is a sense that perhaps the conman has been playing Kubrick for so long that he's lost his own sense of self, but that's never fully explored in the film.