Movie Review: Albert Nobbs
Albert Nobbs is a strangely wonderful little movie about a strange little man named Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close), who isn’t a man at all but a woman disguised as a man to live a better life in 19th-century Ireland. Nominated for three Oscars (Best Actress – Close, Best Supporting Actress – Janet McTeer, and Best Achievement in Makeup), the film explores interesting questions about gender. Despite a plot resolution that falls short in the end, the movie features at least two memorable performances and an ensemble cast that provides just the right balance of humor and drama to make Albert Nobbs worth seeing.
Albert Nobbs is a career waiter who began passing as a man at the age of 15, shortly after a group of men attacked her. Now the longtime butler at Morrison’s Hotel, a struggling establishment that caters to the wealthy, Albert is severely out of touch with reality and about as socially awkward as one can be. Albert’s secret comes out after a chance encounter with Hubert Page (Janet McTeer), a housepainter who spends the night in Albert’s bed and ends up glimpsing Albert’s true figure. Terrified of losing her job, Albert begs Hubert to keep her secret. Hubert agrees to do so, but Albert remains paranoid and follows Hubert around the hotel like an obsessed fan. Hubert quickly reaches his breaking point and reveals his own hidden gender to Albert in a wonderful scene. Turns out Hubert Page is a woman living as a man, too, albeit in a much different way than Albert.
Albert becomes interested in Hubert’s “conventional” marriage to a woman, but he completely misreads it, assuming that Hubert is living as a man in the privacy of his own home, which clearly isn’t the case. Regardless, Albert begins longing for a wife, but for purely asexual purposes. Albert seems to be ignorant of the notion of romantic love and merely wants a female presence in the tobacco shop he dreams of opening with the money he’s socked away over the years. Thus begins Albert’s painfully awkward attempt at courtship with the young and beautiful Helen (Mia Wasikowska), a maid at Morrison’s who has eyes for the strapping but volatile Joe (Aaron Johnson), who urges her to take advantage of Albert’s interest in her for all the wrong reasons.
Close played Nobbs on the off-Broadway stage in 1982 and won an award for her work. Thirty years later, she delivers an Oscar-caliber screen performance of the same role. Close plays Nobbs with a quiet, reserved precision that encapsulates the agonizing loneliness resulting from Nobbs’s life decisions. The character is an intriguing enigma and comes off as a hermaphrodite with Asberger’s syndrome. It’s fascinating to watch the woman who played one of the most memorable femme fatales in movie history (as the sexy but flat-out insane Alex Forrest in 1987’s Fatal Attraction) transform herself into such a secretive and aloof little man.
Glenn Close and Mia Wasikowska in “Albert Nobbs.”
The other highlight of Albert Nobbs is Janet McTeer as Hubert. Her striking presence commands attention with every scene she’s in. It’s Hubert who encourages Albert to break free of her self-made chains and go for her dreams, even if they are unattainable. Close and McTeer make a wonderful pair and Albert Nobbs is at its best when the two women share the screen.
Featuring a wonderful supporting cast and spot-on set designs, costumes, and makeup work, Albert Nobbs is a movie that leaves you scratching your head in a good way. Yes, the story loses steam in the final act and the ending leaves many questions unanswered, but the complicated and compelling character of Albert Nobbs stays in your mind long after the final credits roll.
