Behemoth! (dir. Tony Gilroy)

By: Adam Freed

As its title would suggest, Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! is a massive undertaking.  Gilroy, an acclaimed writer (Michael Clayton, Andor), pens and directs the non-linear story of the turbulent and rapidly evolving life of world-class cellist Alex Serian. What complicates matters for Gilroy is the bifurcation between his film’s central performance, an absolutely breathtaking exploration of evolving masculinity from the endlessly talented Pedro Pascal (Eddington, Materialists), and the film’s plot, one that proposes so many emotional avenues of connectivity but pays off on disappointingly few.  Tony Gilroy is no stranger to grandeur, as is evidenced by the massive scope and success of his Star Wars prequel series Andor.  Like the complex and delicate pieces of symphonic music that so often serve as the heartbeat of Behemoth! A few misplayed notes here and there do not derail, but certainly mar the potential Behemoth! had to reach cinematic greatness.

By the time audiences meet Alex Serian, the former childhood prodigy has evolved into a singularly focused musician whose penchant for the fairer sex, especially those already married, have left him in more than a few precious positions. Pascal plays Serian along a delicately invisible line, never crossing into the realm of unlikable or misogynistic, but rather as an open-hearted man willing to cash in on his dashing good looks.  Those looks, when coupled with the prodigious nature of Serian’s musical talent, make him irresistible to any number of women, none more notable than billionaire Carol Spedding, captured with hilarious intensity by Olivia Wilde (The Invite).  Although Wilde’s appearance amounts to little more than a repeated cameo, the introduction of Serian’s troubled brother Andy (Will Arnett), becomes almost more than the gifted musician can process.

There is a lot to like, but not love about Behemoth! A warm, but not scalding, endorsement ratcheted up by a career-best performance from Pedro Pascal.  Tony Gilroy as director never finds the correct emotional register, intended upon within the script of his own design.  The result is a strong awards season film one or two octaves away from symphonic perfection.

Target Score 7/10 - A devastatingly commanding Pedro Pascal is reason enough to flock to Behemoth!  Although reaction to Tony Gilroy’s  ambitious non-linear film is far more likely to lean towards ‘mixed’ than ‘masterpiece’.

Behemoth! is included in Movie Archer’s coverage of the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival