Max (2002)

First impressions can be deadly. Promises broken can cause real pain. Watch what you say and do because you never know who's watching. As a mainline protestant I believe that man, while he may strive to be good is essentially evil. `The road to hell is paved with good intentions,' if you will. I believe jealousy, greed, and avarice are very much a part of the human condition and its only through the grace of God we are not lost.

I say this to illustrate a point. MAX is the story of two men, each on a quest to do something good. Each has a noble goal and yet both end up on a collision course with History. The first man is Max Rothchild (John Cusak, High Fidelity) a German Jew who has just returned from WWI missing an arm. He has settled back into his comfortable life of wealth and prosperity, with his beautiful wife (Molly Parker, Kissed) and his beautiful children. He has a mistress (Leelee Sobieski, My First Mister), and is a chain smoker. He probably drinks more than he should as well. He is also unable to do what he really loves, which is paint, so he does the next best thing. He becomes an art dealer. If he cannot create art why not discover the next great artist.

The other man is Adolph Hitler (Noah Taylor, Almost Famous) a German, who has returned from the war with nothing. He lives in the army barracks because he cannot afford a home for himself. He follows the rules and is straitlaced. He will not smoke. He does not drink (not even coffee) and he loves his country, a German all the way. But he does long to be a great artist.

One day these two men start a relationship. It is amicable if strained. Max takes Hitler under his wing. Trying to get him to open up and embrace his art. Hitler becomes fed up and is dragged away from his art by the army. They have given him the platform he's always wanted, and with this platform Hitler begins to rail against the Jews, and those that threaten the great country that is Germany. In the end this one man is forced to chose between art and power. Real history tells us what decision he made.

MAX is a fictional account of the early life of one of history's most evil men. But what I really liked about it is that it makes an attempt to get to heart of why people make the decisions that they do. Why did German nationalism lead to violence and genocide? Why do some people who are tested by pain survive and thrive, and others can be in the same place and become bitter? Why and what turned Hitler himself into a monster? Did he have a run in with a Jew that broke a promise or treated him like crud? All these questions come to mind and MAX tries to come to gripes with them.

What I also like about this movie is it has no hero, but allows you as the audience to be empathetic to these men. Maybe Hitler has a point. Maybe he has the right the feel put upon by the world. Why, when he plays by the rules, does he live in the gutter, while a fast talking, hard drinking, chain smoking, adulterer has a warm bed? It would make me mad too and doesn't jealousy make us do some pretty drastic things.

Writer/ first time Director Menno Meyjes (The Seige `Screenplay') has crafted a compelling and challenging story. The film makes a monster into a human being, not by praising him but by asking the one question we all ask, why? It doesn't begin to editorialize on what Hitler became, but presents us with a man who can make the right decision or walk down the wrong road. Of course we can never change the past,

Fmovies: There are only 2 actors you need to watch: John Cusack and Noah Taylor. John Cusack plays a rich Jewish art dealer who tries to help a not-so-young unknown artist find his "inner voice." The two go through the art world and all its patrons. Max Rothman, played by Cusack, is an intelligent nihilist who tries to guide this unknown into finding the core of his artistic endeavor. And the not-so-young unknown artist, played utterly convincingly - utterly committed - utterly profoundly, by Noah Taylor is Adolf Hitler. I have been glued to my seat before with films and movies, but this goes beyond those films and movies. I usually get a sense of focus on the action, script and scenery. This time it is utter silence. I was listening and watching for every nuance ... and Mr. Taylor's performance is nothing but unbelievably wondrous. It is 100.000% utter professional commitment to the role. Mr. Taylor disappears and Hitler, the evil maniacal horror emerges. I was GLUED to my seat like never before... I was sorry to see this movie end. His performance was just so amazing to watch. I can't compare it to anyone else's acting since Mr. Taylor has gone beyond any performance ever before ... and maybe ever again! 20/10. -LD

Already people are criticizing this movie because of the suggestion that if Hitler had become an artist, we might have prevented the Holocaust. I would have to disagree with them, in that this is not what the film was trying to convey. What this movie was about was Hitler's odd relationship with a Jewish art dealer named Max Hoffman. This takes place when Hitler was aged 30 years old (post WWI, pre WWII). Hitler is trying to be an artists, but refuses to listen to advice and seems to find the slight in every comment about him or what he stands for. He claims NOT to be an Anti-Semite, but what I got from the film was he was sort-of peer pressured into the propaganda.

By then end of the movie, Hitler has failed as an artist, as he did in real life. He claims to have disovered a new art in politics, and pursues a career in the Socialist Party rather than becoming an artist. Does this sound familiar?

While this movie may not be a true account of what actually happened, it did portray Hitler's falling out of his pursuit towards being an artist, boasting the message: some people can't be changed. Cusack's character, Max, constantly tries to become Hitler's friend throughout the movie, but this is difficult because hitler is anti-social, rude, closed-minded (obviously), basically just a hard person to like. The film's message is not to show what could have been, but what never, ever had a chance of happening. Even if Hitler had succeeded as an artist, nothing would have changed.

The movie succeeded in what it was trying to do, which I think was show how Hitler had every opportunity to choose a different path, but he didn't. He had a Jewish friend that never did him wrong, yet he failed to see the goodness and humanity, the common link that binds us all. Perhaps the movie's message was, some people can't be helped, no matter how hard you try.

I'm sure the idea when it was being written was, what if Hitler had a Jewish friend that could have made a differnce? There you have it. None at all. The rest, as they say, is history.

I thought this was a brilliant film. The acting was terriffic, the directing good, and the pacing was not slow at all, it's just the audience that's impatient. Bonus: the camera-pull back in the end to show the architecture of the squares forming a swatstika, ingenius.

Max fmovies. The tag line, "Art + Politics = Power," should give people some idea of the gravity of the film. This role may have been the Oscar that slipped through Cusack's hands due to the controversy surrounding the release. The sad part is, it was started by people who had not even seen the film, and when they had seen it, they retracted their statements. The movie was very well-executed and tasteful, and it was refreshing to see Cusack lose himself in a character. He does well with complexity, and it shows here.

Noah Taylor made a particularly realistic (and as a result particularly unsettling) performance as Hitler. Definitely see this film and don't expect blockbuster two-dimensional acting and predictable plot twists. Watch with a glass of wine and a group of friends who will explore the aspects and finer points with you. It's a conversational piece if nothing else, but one that will leave you on a tangent of what-ifs for quite some time.

This movie was fantastic if you are open minded enough to view it with a "what if" attitude. Of course there are plenty of people out there complaining because they cannot separate fiction from reality and entertain the idea of Hitler having taken a different path. However, this movie is worth seeing. Great performances by Cusack(Max Rothman) and Noah Taylor(Adolph Hitler).

Also people always wonder how Hitler could be so influential if he was so whacko and the movie gives a great insight as to how it might have happened.

If for no other reason, the movie is worth seeing just to hear the line "Come on Hitler, I'll buy you a lemonade..."

I never would have guessed I'd hear that line in a million years.

Greetings again from the darkness. What a phenomenal script! Dealing with the absolute most controversial subject possible, Menno Meyjes (writer and director), provides a fascinating look at the early years of history's most despised figure. "What if" Hitler's art had won over his politics? So much of history would have changed, one can only imagine. As a matter of fact, how about a script showing what could have been? This one teases us with the fork in the road. Noah Taylor is absolutely chilling as a frustrated Hitler, just back form WWI and struggling to find his place in a crippled Germany. John Cusack, as art dealer Max Rothman, is tremendous in what is truly his first role as an adult (no wise-ass or chick flick here). Comparing the two and how they deal with post-war syndrome is enthralling. So similar, yet so different. I doubt this film gets made without Cusack and I doubt it will find much of an audience due to the fear of many to this day to even entertain the thought of Hitler as a human being. Trust me, this is not a sympathetic view of Hitler, merely a glimpse into his formation. Molly Parker has a nice turn as Cusack's wife. Where has she been? More than 20 film credits and I don't recognize her! It is always a pleasure to see Leelee Sobieski ("Joy Ride") although she has very little to do in this one. Wonderful script, mediocre direction and two fabulous performances make this one worth seeing ... although, sadly, very few will.