Barney acts like a man terrified that happiness might actually last.

It's not often you see an American comedy that doesn't rub punchlines in your face. I felt like the director was giving me a little respect. Very refreshing.

Recommended.

Paul Giamatti is really great as always, he plays a complete dick. Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, and Rosamund Pike are solid as well. The first half is really darkly funny, then it turns into a drama, and then it turns into a weepy, sappy, sentimental, phony bullshit movie. I’d never heard of this, yet it seemed like Oscar Bait. I dunno if the studio buried it because they realized what a mess the movie truly was. It has a runtime of 2hr and 15min. Blah, yeah it was blah.

This movie felt like bullshit if only for the reason that beautiful women give a man who looks like Paul Giamatti so many chances. Is this Hollywood romanticism or what being in your 30s is really like???
I need answers!!! Otherwise, I might never go to the gym again!

Has anyone in cinematic history punched above his weight more than Paul Giamatti when it comes to onscreen romances ? I mean this movie had three for the price of one . 
An excellent watch and Rosamund Pike once again is the standout .

“This chicken is delicious.”
“It’s fish.”
“Shit. Really?”

Such a weirdly structured and designed movie. Also so very sad. It goes in one direction and one direction only, and we surely get there after a series of heartbreaks. I watched this last when it came out and it always stuck with me. The feeling, not the story. Watching it again all these years later, I still like it, but not as much as that first viewing. Giamatti delivers one of the very best performances of his career. For every thing that this movie is not, for how it relentlessly goes against convention within the frame of these types of stories (and also for Rosamund Pike), Barney’s Version is very much worth the watch.

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I’m sorry, I had difficulty watching this without thinking Rosamund Pike was playing a version of Gone Girl’s Amy after leaving Ben Affleck

Barney’s Version is a life-affirming and life-spanning drama with the type of difficult, abrasive yet compelling curmudgeon lead that only Giamatti was born to play and give the required justice. He often tackles the difficult roles, and this is a fine example. In fact, his Golden Globe winning performance here saves the film, along with some solid work from the rest of the ensemble. Whilst a little rambling and messy in its narrative delivery, and slow to kick into gear, the tableau of life presented here is ultimately very rewarding. Affectionate, funny, insightful, complicated and even downright excruciating (the pier scene!), it's an unapologetic Canadian life journey through the trials and tribulations of love, a reminder that matters of the heart can never be planned, they just are. Also includes a priceless cameo from Cronenberg. It's one of those middling films raised to a higher tier by Giamatti's central casting.