Piano Man

Authors: Ethan
Location: Chicago, IL

"Piano Man”

Directed by: Sam Mendes
Written by: Alan Ball
Produced by: Alan Ball
Music by: Thomas Newman and Billy Joel

Principal Cast:

Sam Elliot as Old Man
Ewan McGregor as John
Tom Hanks as Paul
Annette Bening as Paul’s Wife
Ryan Phillippe as Davy
Kate Winslet as Waitress
Matt Dillon as Businessman
Bob Balaban as Manager
Billy Joel as Piano Man

Tagline: "Can You Play Me A Memory?"

Synopsis: An ensemble piece revolving around the song “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, and the day which seven strangers attended the Piano Man’s concert. This concert, through the music and memory, creates hope and loss for these seven people. This movie brings back the team from American Beauty to create another masterpiece.

What the press would say:

This movie has the brilliant writing of American Beauty. This movie has the focused directing of American Beauty. This movie has the Oscar-worthy acting of American Beauty. Why is this movie different from American Beauty? The music. Billy Joel’s arguably most famous song comes to life in this outstanding motion picture.

Alan Ball once again proves himself one of the best writers of our time. This man broke every single layer of that song and created multidimensional characters that are relatable to every single person here. Most importantly, he discovers the necessity for music in this world, and that message almost haunts the entire picture.

Sam Mendes, after a few movies not exactly up to par with American Beauty, shows the world he can do more than direct. He makes the audience a part of the film. The audience feels apart of the concert. The audience feels like they know every character personally. Sam Mendes’s vision of this film is simply put, amazing.

There are many characters in this movie, so I will only discuss the true standouts. Firstly, Ewan McGregor as John. John believes he can be a movie star, but ends up being a bartender at a concert hall. In every frame that Ewan McGregor is present, he shows the pain of not living up to your dreams. He shows hurt and anguish and his performance truly adds to the importance of the overall message of this film.

Annette Bening, after many disappointing trips to the Oscars, will finally come out victorious with this tour-de-force performance. Playing the wife of Paul (Tom Hanks) who can’t find time for his family, she shows her ability to portray every emotion imaginable. The one distinct feature of Annette Bening is her face, because every facial _expression shows the exact emotion she feels, so when the script fail (and there are only a few times of this), Bening picks it right back up with her outstanding acting. This performance will last until late February.

Finally, Matt Dillon, in another excellent ensemble movie, once again comes out as the best. Playing a character so far from the racist cop, Dillon plays a businessman torn between helping his family and his work. It is an overused conflict, but Dillon adds so many new emotions to this role. This time, Dillon will not be robbed at the Oscars.

The most impressive part of this movie, it was not made to win awards. This movie was made to convey a message about music and the importance of it. The screenwriter knew this while writing it, Mr Mendes knew this while directing, and every actor in this movie only wants the message to clearly come across. While most people write their acceptance speeches while working on a movie, there was no possibility of this happening on the set. This is a selfless movie hoping to help audiences. “Its sad and its sweet, and I knew it complete.” This is Piano Man.

Awards:

Oscar Nomination:

Best Picture
Best Director (Sam Mendes)
Best Original Screenplay (Alan Ball)
Best Supporting Actor (Ewan McGregor)
Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon)
Best Supporting Actress (Annette Bening)
Best Original Song (Billy Joel)
Best Original Score (Thomas Newman)