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As director, Keaton explores behind masks

By KEVIN WALKER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2009

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While we were all watching someone else, Michael Keaton grew up on us. And now he's directing a movie that shows his fascination with morality and deception and the many faces people present to the world.

(Which, as an aside, might explain why he was interested in doing "Batman" all those years ago; he's still the best one).

In "The Merry Gentleman," Keaton - who directs and stars - offers a quiet, contemplative movie about how people deceive others, but especially themselves. And how they cheat. And how everyone deep inside is desperate for an honest connection of some sort with another human being, no matter how fleeting.

The movie opens with parallel scenes. Frank Logan (Keaton) sits alone in park in an urban location (the city name is never mentioned, but it has a very Midwest feel to it). He gets up, walks to a nearby bar, and when a man comes up to get into a car, he calmly walks up and shoots him.

Meanwhile, Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) has been beaten by her husband, a police officer. Once he leaves the house for work, she sneaks out, catches a plane, and flies to a different city - the one where Logan lives.

At this point, it looks as if this is going to be a fairly straightforward mystery. Frazier takes a job, and one night, while walking out of work, she sees a man standing on a ledge across the street. She can't make out the face, but it's Logan, who has just finished a job (shooting a guy in Frazier's building) and is feeling suicidal.

In an earlier scene Logan is shown in his car, parked in a desolate industrial area, a gun under his chin. But he's unable to pull the trigger. Whether he would have jumped or not is unknown. Frazier screams and he falls back onto the roof top. Did she save his life? She certainly gave him a reason to live, as he soon conveniently shows up in her building, where they strike up a friendship.

Meanwhile, police detective Dave Murcheson (Tom Bastounes) begins investigating the case, and ends up falling for Frazier. But the film then takes a left turn, showing Frazier's relationship with the two men, both of which go in unexpected directions. She also befriends a coworker who has secrets of her own.

Among the many issues the film tackles is the distance between what we accept as moral versus how we actually feel (i.e., murder is wrong, but my life might be better without that person around) and how tough the world can be on truly private people.

(Note: This movie is opening this week only at Burns Court Theater in Sarasota)