Fans of Kevin Kline must wait out long periods when the actor is either doing stage work or filling in minor roles in movies like “The Pink Panther.”
So “The Extra Man” is a double-edged sword: It gives Kline an absolutely splendid part, but the movie itself never quite rises up to meet him.
The title refers to the kind of Manhattan gentleman who keeps himself available to serve as an escort; he’ll offer an arm and clever chatter to wealthy society ladies whose husbands are either dead or not interested in attending operas and gallery openings.
Such an “extra man” is Henry Harrison (yes, that’s Kline), a cultivated fellow who is down at the heels (literally — his socks all have holes in them). Yet Henry hangs in there, charming his circle of bored elderly ladies.
We meet Henry through the young and confused Louis Ives (Paul Dano), who is new to Manhattan and renting out Henry’s spare room. And so the cracked Henry becomes Louis’ mentor in the metropolis, although his advice is rarely sound.
Directors Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who guided the fine Harvey Pekar bio “American Splendor,” aim for the sprung rhythm and unreal air of a bygone era of comedy. The performances reflect this, in a cast that includes John C. O’Reilly and Katie Holmes.
Kline is lovely in his role, catching all of Henry’s fussiness and exhaustion. Too bad the movie around him doesn’t have more get-up-and-go.
Kline’s co-star, Paul Dano, accompanied “The Extra Man” when it played as the opening night film of the Seattle International Film Festival in May, and I talked to him about the movie at that time.
Of working with Kevin Kline, Dano said the two of them tried to establish a “mentor-pupil relationship” during rehearsals.
“Shooting under a time crunch in New York City in winter, Kevin and I tried to be there for each other. You have to be loose and find an element of spontaneity.
“Kevin and I would go to restaurants where real ‘extra men’ might be dining [to observe them]. Kevin would know about that, somehow.”
Dano said he liked the exploration involved in playing Louis, a somewhat nerdy academic who’s curious about dressing in women’s clothes.
“I’ve never cross-dressed before, and I’ve never moved to New York City before, because I grew up there. How to do that? If you already know how to do it, what’s the point?
“If you go to work 12 to 14 hours a day, you want to be challenging yourself.”
Because his role is very meek and quiet, I asked him what it was like in contrast to a showy part like the one Dano had in “There Will Be Blood.”
“You got to be almost operatic,” he said of his fire-and-brimstone character in that film, “and you get tired and dirty and exhausted doing it. But also a little bit high. It’s a great feeling — you get it once, and then it’s gone. It’s really rewarding.”
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