Written by Linda
October 11, 2008
If I come away with one impression from Color Me Kubrick, it is this: John Malkovich is a freak. Ever since I saw Being John Malkovich, where he seemingly played a version of himself (that is, a John Malkovich with a portal in his head), it is hard to blur his characters from the man. Maybe it is simply because he is so good, and he is at the point in his career where he can do whatever the hell he wants to. But I'd like to think he is as strange in real-life as he often appears on screen
Color Me Kubrick is all Malkovich, all the time. (Or, to quote Being John Malkovich, "MalkovichMalkovichMalkovich". He plays an odd fellow in 1990s London who meets pretty young men and introduces himself as Stanley Kubrick. The response is usually an awed, "You're Stanley Fucking Kubrick!" because, well, the vast majority of people wouldn't know any better. Famously reclusive, Kubrick hid from the spotlight in real life, and was by no means a scenester. People wanted to believe the private man would choose them in a crowd to become his next personal friend, and bring them into a world of Hollywood fame and glamour.
But this is, of course, not Stanley Kubrick. This fellow's name is Alan Conway (and yes, this is loosely based on a true story). Despite the fact that this flamboyant character whose knowledge of the master's own films is a bit rusty, "Stanley" woos them with flattery, charm, and more than a little name-dropping. People like British comedian Lee Pratt (Jim Davidson) think they've met a super-famous (and rich) recluse that may just be their ticket to the big time... I mean, why would they think he was lying?
Color Me Kubrick was written by Anthony Frewin, Kubrick's real-life assistant from 1965 to 1999. In the extras on the DVD, there is a featurette that features Frewin, as well as some other real-life victims of Conway's con (including, apparently, actor Jim Davidson himself!). Conway was able to get away with his ruse for so long because when his victims found out they were duped (in some cases duped HARD) they were too humiliated to be the first one to come forward.
As far as the film, Color Me Kubrick is, if anything, wholly entertaining due fully to the performance of John Malkovich. He preens and waves his hands and wears completely outrageous outfits (because that is what fabulously famous artists do, I suppose). But what killed me were his Stanley's crazy array of accents. Depending on who his audience was (his live-in young lover, a club owner, a taxi driver, etc.) his vocal mannerisms would range from a soft British accent to the most bizarre, overly enunciated American accent. This movie, though kind of slight in other aspects, is truly Malkovich's show, and he has a field day with it.
