PLOT: A middle-aged Vegas crooner (Vince Vaughn) gets one last shot at the big time when a powerful local (Al Pacino) catches his act and decides to make him a star.
REVIEW: Easy’s Waltz snuck up on me. TIFF usually follows a set formula: the first four days are the big world premieres, the first half of the second week is filled with Venice and Telluride titles, and the last few days are dedicated to lower-key premieres. As such, I figured Nic Pizzolatto’s feature directorial debut (after a celebrated run on True Detective) would be a decent few hours of entertainment, but not much more. I was surprised to find that it packed a serious wallop, containing one of Vince Vaughn’s best performances in a tailor-made role, along with strong supporting work from Simon Rex as our antihero’s screw-up brother.
The dynamic between Vaughn and Rex reminded me of an underrated 1980s film called The Pope of Greenwich Village, particularly the chemistry between Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts. Here, Vaughn’s crooner, Easy, is a Vegas lifer who never cracked the big time. While not blessed with showstopping talent, he has a unique act where he reimagines a wide range of pop songs as standards. His charisma, phrasing, and inventive arrangements make his show a hit on the seedier side of Vegas. Still, he’s dead broke, forced to manage a restaurant on the side while his brother Sam (Simon Rex) hustles for gigs.
One night, after delivering the performance of his life (a dynamite cover of Ultravox’s Vienna), Easy catches the eye of an old-school Vegas wheeler-dealer, Mickey (Al Pacino), who books talent at the Wynn. Mickey gives Easy a run in one of their dinner theaters, and when his stunning cover of Mike + the Mechanics’ Silent Running goes viral, he becomes an unlikely star. But Sam, who still dreams of a big score—and is also sleeping with Mickey’s mistress (played by Kate Mara)—threatens to ruin everything with his scams.
While it dips into Vegas’s seedier side, Easy’s Waltz isn’t a crime film. It’s a character study, split between Easy—who feels out of step with his time—and Sam. Easy is just as self-destructive in his own way, following a personal moral code that fuels his violent temper. For someone as imposing as the 6’5” Vaughn, that temper is a liability. Vaughn plays him as a fundamentally nice guy but damaged enough that you know trouble is inevitable, especially with Mickey, who relishes humiliating people. Pacino, often relegated to cameos these days, gets a legitimate leading role as the film’s main antagonist. He and Vaughn spark off each other, particularly in a memorable scene where Mickey tries to humiliate one of Easy’s former employers.
Simon Rex also has a killer role as Sam. He channels the kind of manic charm Eric Roberts brought to films like Pope or Star 80, while giving Sam real humanity. He’s a schemer, but his intentions carry some heart—even if, as a glutton for punishment, he falls for the wrong woman and sabotages his brother’s life. The film is rounded out by an eclectic supporting cast: Cobie Smulders brings bittersweet nuance to a small role as Easy’s former flame, while Shania Twain and Mary Steenburgen deliver fun cameos.
Hopefully, Easy’s Waltz gets some traction outside TIFF, because it’s a terrific film. It recalls the kinds of movies Vaughn used to star in during the nineties—films like Return to Paradise or Made—before he became a comedy heavyweight. Vaughn is an incredible actor when given the right role, and this is a superb showcase, even allowing him to reveal a surprisingly strong knack for crooning.
