Max (2002)
Rating (1 to 10) : 6
Summary: A fictional dramatization of a historical “what if” – what if Hitler channeled his rage into art rather than into politics?
This movie investigates a premise on film – what would have happened had Hitler gone into the arts rather than politics? It is one of those questions of alternative history, up there with what would have happened if the NY Giants had made an offer to Fidel Castro to play in their farm team? Hitler, after World War I, was a soldier and a struggling artist, a long way from a demagogue and an embodiment of evil that he is known for today.
The story tells of a fictional character, Max Rothman (John Cusack, Martin Blank in “Grosse Point Blank”), a Jewish art dealer who gets to know Hitler among the artist circles in 1918 Munich. Cusack plays Rothman’s character in his signature way, someone who is both talkative yet incisive, sarcastic and supportive, confident and flappable in argument, much like his characters in “High Fidelity” and “Being John Malkovich”. But in the end, one must ask, why does the movie tell so much about Max when it is ostensibly about the interaction between Max and Hitler??
Noah Wylie plays the young Adolf Hitler and here is where the movie is inadequate. Wylie’s performance depicts Hitler as a nervous, energetic, and somewhat ascetic person, which is historically accurate. However, the screenwriters’ portrayal of Hitler seems to be a caricature of this villain; we really don’t get to see any positive traits of Hitler. Viewers see Hitler come off as an odd, annoying fellow lacking social skills and might mistake his social ineptitude as the seed of his inner anger that drove him to engender the Holocaust.
Molly Parker plays Max’s wife while Leelee Sobieski (Aldys Martin in “Never Been Kissed”) plays Max’s artist/friend/mistress. Unfortunately, while Molly’s character adds to the background of the story, Sobieski’s wonderful talent was wasted. Her character added nothing to the story. It’s as if her character was conceived just to create a role in this movie for her.
This movie could have been more but it just quite doesn’t fulfill its potential. Max sees that Hitler has this unbridled energy and tries to get Hitler to focus it on his art, yet Hitler is lured into politics by his commanding officer, an anti-Semite who influences Hitler into joining a nascent party called the National Socialist German Workers Party. You can see the tug of war between Hitler’s commander and Max, each pulling Hitler to go down a certain path in his life, a decision branch that will have a tremendous consequence on world history. Yet, for a story that is about what could have happened had someone influenced Hitler to channel his restless energy in a constructive way, Max and Hitler don’t really interact that much in the movie. The story is told in parallels, an interesting technique, but perhaps not the best method because it strays away from focusing on the interaction between the two.
A final comment – the screenwriters forgot to research their subject with due diligence. They made the same mistake as the screenwriters for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” did - one scene shows Hitler writing a note with his right hand. Hitler was left-handed.
Why you should or should not see this movie:
The story is based on an interesting premise and I am drawn to alternative history stories. But the movie seems to fall short. I do recommend you see the movie though. Maybe you will think otherwise.
Memorable quotes
