The Dutchman
An adaptation of the 1964 play (which was inspired by the myth of The Flying Dutchman), director Andre Gaines' The Dutchman is social commentary wrapped up in a messy metaphysical metaphor that, while it has something to say on both the subject of being a successful Black man in America and on marital infidelity and temptation, is far more opaque than it should be except, perhaps, in Clay's long monologues that are meant to offer cultural critique to the audience more than the film's antagonist.
We're introduced to Clay (André Holland) and Kaya (Zazie Beetz) in a couple's counselling session that isn't going well. Seeing trouble brewing, Dr. Amiri (Stephen McKinley Henderson) puts Clay on the path of temptation (literally placing a representation of him on a stage). On the way to an important work event later that night, Clay will run into Lula (Kate Mara) who literally offers him an apple, and then the opportunity for revenge sex (something both Clay's therapist an best friend, played by Aldis Hodge, suggest would be good for him). Obviously never having read The Bible, Clay gives into temptation.
The movie is really about what happens next as the mentally-unstable Lula latches on the Clay threating all sorts of things should he abandon her. At this point, Mara's performance goes from the interesting temptress, as found in the play, to devolving into the caricature of a crazy woman that gets off on screwing with men for her own amusement, a archetype that all men fear but not necessarily something that fits as well into the themes of the narrative.
Both Dr. Amiri, who keeps appearing to Clay inexplicably over the night in various places, and Lula act as stand-ins to larger figures. Is Amiri actually God? He does admit to creating Lula who is obviously some kind of devilish manifestation. Whatever the two actually are, their arrival in Clay's life creates all kinds of trouble for the man leading to a return to the subway and a final confrontation on the train that allows Gaines to spout larger ideas through Clay as the movie struggles to fit is message in its established structure.
In the end, the message of forgiving your partner when they stray and identity as it relates to being a Black man in America, don't necessary fit with the struggle Clay goes through with the crazy Lula or its murky resolution. The notable departure from the play by inserting the infidelity plot, which never quite meshes with its larger cultural themes but is the far more personal storyline that Gaines wants to explore, and straying away from the original's far darker ending, doesn't help. I'm a fan of Mara, but the crazier she goes the less I'm sure what she's doing here (although it's certainly more interesting that picking up a check for a run-of-the-mill romcom, so there's at least that). The Dutchman has interesting ideas but that didn't always translate into an interesting film.
- Title: The Dutchman
- IMDb: link
