“Barney’s Version” features an award-winning ensemble cast, including Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre and Bruce Greenwood. Giamatti won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy, and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup.
First he got married. Then he got married again. Then he met the love of his life.
Based on Mordecai Richler's award winning novel – his last and, arguably, best – “Barney’s Version” is the warm, wise and witty story of the politically incorrect life of Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), who meets the love of his life (Rosamund Pike) at his wedding — and she is not the bride.
A candid confessional, told from Barney‘s point of view, the film spans three decades and two continents, taking us through the different “acts” of his unusual history. There is his first wife, Clara (Rachelle Lefevre), a flame-haired, flagrantly unfaithful free sprit with whom Barney briefly lives la vie de Boheme in Rome.
The “Second Mrs. P.” (Minnie Driver), is a wealthy Jewish Princess who shops and talks incessantly, barely noticing that Barney is not listening. And it is at their lavish wedding that Barney meets, and starts pursuing, Miriam (Rosamund Pike), his third wife, the mother of his two children, and his true love.
With his father, Izzy (Dustin Hoffman) as his sidekick, Barney takes us through the many highs, and a few too many lows, of his long and colorful life. Not only does Barney turn out to be a true romantic, he is also capable of all kinds of sneaky acts of gallantry, generosity, and goodness when we – and he – least expect it.
His is a gloriously full life, played out on a grand scale. And, at its center stands an unlikely hero – the unforgettable Barney Panofsky.