“Death of a Ladies’ Man” (MA) **** and a half

WRITER/director Matthew Bissonnette’s film observes ageing academic Samuel O’Shea (Gabriel Byrne) whose roving eye for women and an inability to perceive how his essential self is coping with the deal that life has handed to him, blends with a homage to Leonard Cohen’s 1977 LP from which its derives its title.

It’s a three-act character study of a man forced to confront his weaknesses and unable to accept what he sees. The screenplay mercilessly observes Samuel’s voyage of self-discovery across an ocean of self-pity, often in company with his long-dead father (Brian Gleeson) who is wiser than he and less inclined to suffer his foibles gladly. 

Samuel’s mind is beginning to betray his perceptions of his surroundings – a transgendered server with a tiger’s head at the local cafe, hockey players performing ice-dance choreography, and beautiful women who fall for his slick moves and literary banter.

Charlotte (Jessica Pare) becomes Samuel’s girlfriend after he turfs his wife out of the bed in which he catches her cavorting with a young lover. Charlotte’s persona offers him a chance to escape his life’s malaise in so many ways. Why does a beauty 30 years his junior suddenly appear and fall for him? The story doesn’t provide a clear explanation – Charlotte is her own woman making her own choice for her own reasons. His real-world inability to be on hand when daughter (Carolina Bartczak) needs him strains a loving relationship.

I came away from “Death of a Ladies’ Man” with a strong sense of a credible view of a man easy to like, hard to respect, in final analysis easy to feel sympathy for but unable to help. And, yes, when death does come to Samuel, it is from a completely unexpected quarter.

At Dendy and Palace Electric