Strong Portrayals Muffled by Predictable ‘George’

Eric Lea’s “George B.” is a nice little movie that’s not developed sufficiently enough to work as well as it could despite persuasive performances in its three central roles.

With his boyishly open countenance, David Morse is well-cast as George, a 40ish small-town janitor who winds up with a white-columned mansion. It was given to him by an eccentric widower in exchange for what money he has on him at the time. Having hit it big gambling in nearby Reno--we’re never told just how big--it looks as if George has a prayer of continuing to hold on to his new home, which he is fixing up, and launching a cleaning business with his new friend, Jerry (Brad Gregg).

When George happens upon Angela (Nina Siemaszko), a young, pretty mall department store sales clerk, and she gives him some encouragement, the janitor thinks his happiness will be complete. George, however, is a world-class innocent, and it’s all too obvious that he’s a patsy just waiting to be gulled, something heavily foreshadowed by the film’s opening sequence. Angela is just trying to get ahead the best she can and to get out from under her bitchy mother (an overly mannered Grace Zabriskie in a tritely written role).

Jerry tries to point this out to George, who of course will not hear of it, but then can’t resist taking advantage of the guy himself. The character of Jerry, sharply played by Gregg, gives the film its only edginess, something that it is desperately in need of to rescue it from the predictable. As a result, the worthwhile point that Lea is trying to make, which is that there’s something sweet and admirable in George’s belief in the possibility of happiness, gets muffled.

As long as is reasonably possible Morse manages to convince us that George is merely simple rather than outright stupid. Lea would have been much better off trying to give his film more shape and conviction and spending less time with shtick-laden minor characters. Above all, he needed to point up the humor and irony in George’s character and predicament. While Morse, Siemaszko and especially Gregg, who has the most believable role, shine, others seem to have been directed unevenly. On the plus side is Wayne Kennan’s graceful camera work, making the most of natural light and settings in Chico and Reno.

Lea, who has worked as an editor on “Seinfeld” and “The Single Guy,” is a man of clear sensitivity and compassion, but if he is to succeed as a writer-director, he will have to develop more style and authority as a director and more consistent wit and incisiveness as a writer. “George B.” definitely has its moments but not enough of them to make the difference.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: some language, adult themes and situations.

‘George B.’

David Morse: George

Nina Siemaszko: Angela

Brad Gregg: Jerry

A WunderHund Releasing presentation of a Tango West production. Writer-director Eric Lea. Producer Wade. W. Danielson, Gloria Pryor. Executive producer Mark Terry. Cinematographer Wayne Kennan. Editor Pamela Raymer. Music David Reynolds. Costumes Heidi Higginbotham. Production designer Susan Karasic. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes.

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