Albert Nobbs

In Albert Nobbs, Glenn Close plays a woman, who dresses like a man, who saves every penny she earns in hopes of opening a cigar shop with a woman 40 years her junior.  Delusions of grandeur, perhaps, but the basis for a compelling film, nonetheless. But while this labor of love is well intentioned, its delivery is dull, mechanic, and, at times, completely phoned in.

Albert Nobbs works as the head butler for a fancy Irish hotel, circa the 19^th century.  She tends to the snobby guests without a hint of indignation.  When her co-workers bitch and moan about the guests in private, Albert carries about her business dutifully, silently tidying up whatever needs tidying. At night, she stores her wages in the floorboards of her room. She sleeps, wakes up, dresses into a man, and start the process all over.

Soon enough (or rather, not soon enough), Albert is introduced to two people who throw a mix into her routine life. Hubert, a local painter, is the first to discover Albert's secret (mostly because she too conceals her real sexuality), while Helen, a young maid at the hotel, proves to be the awe of Albert’s world.

Now, forgive my repetitiveness, but like so many other films from 2011, Albert Nobbs is a film suited with strong material and even stronger performances, but its execution is flawed beyond belief.

As directed by Rodrigo García (who made the very haunting, very miraculous Nine Lives), Albert Nobbs is, by and large, a total bore. My plot description is more accurate then you may hope, as nothing really happens in the movie. There’s cleaning, there’s hiding, there’s whispering and yelling. Minor subplots are introduced then abandoned, interesting characters are ignored, and so on. In Albert Nobbs, we have yet another less than stellar film backboned with remarkable performances.

Albert Nobbs has been a passion project of Glenn Close’s since she’s been acting in movies. She first played the role on stage in 1982 and has been fighting to get it on screen ever since. To help, she even co-wrote the film’s screenplay, which unfortunately doesn't add much to the overall film. But as Albert, Close is perfect. She embodies a lost, haunted woman with sorrowful passion. Likewise Janet McTeer, who plays Hebert as a steadfast brute, far beyond any suffering she may have endured in the past.

Both deliver some of the best performances of their careers, and they certainly deserve the Oscar nominations that will soon be coming their way. Mia Wasikowska also deserves special mention – as Helen, she proves yet again that she is one of the best young actors out there.

Even though the film picks up in its final act, delivering a pleasing finale that I wasn’t expecting, the movie as a whole isn’t nearly worthy of the performances in it. C-