'Albert Nobbs' review

Glenn Close (Credit: Patrick Redmond/Roadside Attractions)

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["Albert Nobbs" premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. The following is an excerpt from Metromix's coverage of the festival.]

Glenn Close is already an Oscar favorite for the title role in "Albert Nobbs." Her past nominations, for "The World According to Garp," "Fatal Attraction" and "Dangerous Liaisons," never turned into wins, and that may be one factor in her long term passion for "Nobbs." She first played the role on stage in 1982, and she's co-written this screen adaptation, which took 15 years to come to the screen.

All that passion behind the scenes doesn't really translate on screen in the bland 19th Century period drama starring Close as a woman who has lived her life as a man. Orphaned as a teenager, she decided the gender switch would be her best opportunity to survive and she's found gainful employment as a butler at an Irish hotel.

Director Rodrigo Garcia previously collaborated with Close on "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her," and last year steered an exceptional ensemble of actresses through the wrenching drama of "Mother and Child." He can't work the same magic here in his first period piece, which suffers from underwhelming characters and a thin narrative.

Close has all the early buzz, and the restrained performance is a departure from her tendency toward (very good) scenery-chewing. With Nobbs, there's not much to dig into beyond the gender gimmick. She's actually upstaged by Janet McTeer's charismatic turn as a more self-assured and outgoing cross-dresser who lights a spark inside the timid Nobbs. Mia Wasikowska is also solid as a colleague of Nobbs' who plays a pivotal part in the action. Aaron Johnson, Pauline Collins, Brendan Gleeson, Brenda Fricker and a fleetingly seen Jonathan Rhys Meyers round out the cast in unexceptional roles.

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