Here's a movie that could be described as tasteful to a fault. It's so old-school that it almost flies right past quaint and into self-parody, yet there's something about its insistance on being nothing more than what it is that ultimately makes it sing.
Written and directed by Nic Pizzolatto, Easy's Waltz is a film about small-timers in a once big town, who are all on their way out. Like The Last Showgirl, it's about those long, uncomfortable final moments of the night when the party is well and truly over, but some just don't want to go home.
Easy (Vince Vaughn) is a Las Vegas crooner destined to play the smallest shows in the hotels everyone picks last. He has the voice of someone with a great future behind them. Occasionally, something great punches through, but mostly the talent fits the rooms. But Easy is amiable, even charming, and even now he's got a vague longing for something better.
His brother, Sam (Simon Rex), is his manager and millstone around his neck. Sam is a deadbeat gambler, but hopelessly devoted to Easy in a way that makes their relationship a kind of Ouroboros of bad choices. Sam won't take any responsibility for his actions, while Easy writes off his self-sabotage as sacrifice for everyone else. Within minutes of meeting them, we can tell they're on the long road to nowhere.
Then, out of nowhere, Easy catches the eye of Mickey Albano (Al Pacino), an aging relic of a past age, who refuses to accept that time would ever move on from someone like him. He hears Easy sing and remembers a time when he was happy. It's a fleeting memory, caught up in a larger story of divorce and anger, but it's enough to turn Mickey nostalgic. He offers Easy an opportunity to sing at his casino, perhaps even get a longer contract. Everything Easy could have wanted.
Of course, nothing is easy for Easy, and it's not long before he finds a way to step on his own toes.
Easy's Waltz works because we believe in Easy as a character. This is thanks to a revelatory performance by Vince Vaughn, who hasn't been this good since his tragicomic turn in Swingers. In the decades since, Vaughn has gained some mileage and grit on his chiseled good looks. But his eyes still twinkle, and you can see why Easy gets along with everyone.
But there's a sadness in him, too, which Vaughn plays best in the quiet moments when everyone else turns away. Watch how his practised jaunt from the stage grows heavier and how his shoulders sag when he thinks nobody is looking. It's a great, subdued performance that in lesser hands would turn into pantomime. Easy is a loser, but that doesn't mean he should be played as such. In his world, he's the underdog, even if telling himself that is the biggest lie of them all.
Likewise, it's a delight to see Pacino this animated and engaged once again. His character, Mickey, is like the twilight years of so many extravagant mobster he has played in the past. Imagine his sleazy casino owner from Ocean's 13 some decades down the line and you get the idea. Mickey is a grotesque visage of weaponized nostalgia, gauche personified. But he's also charming, even magnetic, like a gift shop Satan.
Surprisingly, Pacino plays the part with reserved energy, instead of going for big and loud. Sure, Mickey yells, but when he does it's terrifying, because he doesn't need to. He knows what and who he owns, he doesn't need to throw his weight around. Watch how Pacino emotionally abuses Easy and others around him to establish a pecking order, and see how petty and small his power really is. Mickey, like everyone else in the film, knows his limitations, and he hates it.
We know where Easy's Waltz goes from the minute it begins, but that doesn't diminish the picture. Instead, there's great comfort in such certainties. You know you're in the hands of a talented filmmaker who will deliver exactly what is promised on the poster. At 100 minutes in length, Easy's Waltz is exactly as long as it needs to be. Any more, and it would risk overstaying its welcome. Which, as any lounge act will tell you, is death for a good show.
In the history of great Las Vegas movies, Easy's Waltz is a surprise contender as one of the better ones. It isn't flashy or epic like Casino, nor as tragic as Leaving Las Vegas or witty and insightful like Hard Eight. Instead, it's something in between. It's the show that takes place beyond the limelight, off the strip, and down the street where the hotels have ironic names like "The Palace".
Like the characters, Easy's Waltz is charming because it knows what it is and plays the odds anyway.
