About.com Rating

An Offbeat Indie That Some Will Love

Michael Jackson meets Marilyn Monroe in Paris and goes with her to a commune in the Scottish Highlands where they live with Charlie Chaplin, Abe Lincoln, Sammy Davis Jr., Queen Elizabeth II, Shirley Temple, Buckwheat and the Three Stooges. Meanwhile, in a Latin American jungle, a Catholic priest and some nuns deliver food to the poor via airplane, and a miracle occurs.


That's a cavalier way of describing what happens in the quirky Mister Lonely (2007).

Actually, each person at the commune is an impersonator of someone famous and remains in character at all times. But the group of impersonators has problems, leading to tragedy. Meanwhile, the tale of the priest and nuns proceeds independently, although it eventually intersects in a peripheral way with the story of the Michael Jackson impersonator.

The role of the Michael Jackson impersonator is played by Mexican actor Diego Luna (Y tu mamá también), while English-born actress Samantha Morton (In America) portrays the Marilyn Monroe impersonator. Playing the priest is legendary German-born director Werner Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God). The director and co-writer of Mister Lonely is Harmony Korine, who did the cult favorites Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy.

Mister Lonely is visually arresting, makes good use of music, features strong performances and has interesting locations in Paris, Scotland and Panama.

But there's not much narrative drive and little attempt to dig into what makes the characters tick psychologically. However, if you are one of those the film speaks to, it is mesmerizing while you watch it and lingers in the memory.

DVD Bonus Materials

The Mister Lonely DVD comes with a couple of extras. One is a reasonably interesting 12-minute behind the scenes featurette in which you can see and hear from 35-year-old director Harmony Korine, as well as his brother Avi, who co-wrote the screenplay with the director. Members of the cast appearing in this featurette include Diego Luna, Denis Lavant ("Charlie Chaplin"), Anita Pallenberg ("Queen Elizabeth II"), Richard Strange ("Abe Lincoln") and James Fox ("the Pope"). They are joined by the choreographer, the costume designer and the cinematographer.

If you're really into the movie, you might want to watch all 23 deleted scenes on the DVD, although they have a total runtime of 37 minutes. The one titled "The Joint" is amusing: it shows the Pope napping on a sofa where he sits alongside Sammy Davis Jr. and Queen Elizabeth II while they smoke marijuana. But Korine did well to cut these scenes for pacing because even at its final length of an hour and 53 minutes, his movie is likely to try many viewers' patience.

DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008