Christian Slater stars as Bob Maconel, a man on the brink of suicide who has a dead-end job, a hate for all people around him and a world around himself that borders on crazy. When he decides to go postal someone else beats him to the punch and Bob becomes a hero after killing the other employee. He is praised and promoted but he wants one thing: to be with one of the employees who he would never hurt.
Elisha Cuthbert plays the love interest Venessa in stellar form but what makes her performance so convincing is her condition: she got shot in the incident and is now a quadriplegic. Bob is in love with her and her smile and he tries valiantly to care for her despite her desire to commit suicide. They realise their love for each other as it would seem, but things start to fall apart when Bob becomes insecure and his past comes back to haunt him.
William H Macy also stars in fine form, playing the slightly eccentric and mysterious boss on the top floor who plays a much bigger role in both Bob and Venessa’s life than originally thought. All three of the main performances drive the film successfully enough and the strange narrative helps give the film a quirky edge that keeps you watching.
The film takes leaves out of the books of successful films such as Falling Down, Office Space, Boondock Saints and Fight Club and yet He Was A Quiet Man doesn’t feel like a cellotape-wrapped bundle of pre-existing material. It feels like its own piece that takes inspiration as opposed to actual material.
If the film falls anywhere it’s in the visual presentation. Director Frank Cappello has tried too hard to make the film feel quirky and it doesn’t work that well. He implements special effects and mind-trips that feel out-of-place and almost unnecessary. Bob’s conscience is in the form of goldfish who are meant to act as the comic relief but they detract from some of the realism as the special effects stick out like a sore thumb. It may be deliberate but it doesn’t fit.
He Was A Quiet Man is a strange film that tries a little too hard to be far out, when it should be comfortably relying on the strong performances and narrative to carry the film along but don’t write the film off. It has some brilliant performances, a strong narrative and a quite satirical outlook on the office stereotypes. Slater eases into his role and delivers one of his best performances ever and is helped by a great supporting cast who really make his anti-socialite character stand out.
It’s nothing massively special and it certainly isn’t one of the “Films To Watch Before You Die”, but it’s definitely worth watching.
Rating: 
