Barney's Version is a 2010 Canadian drama film directed by Richard J. Lewis, written by Michael Konyves, and based on the novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler. Starring Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speedman and Dustin Hoffman, the film follows Barney Panofsky (Giamatti), an alcoholic soap opera producer as he navigates his three marriages to Clara (Lefevre), "The Second Mrs. Panofsky" (Driver) and Miriam (Pike), his relationship with his father Izzy (Hoffman), and the mysterious disappearance of his friend Boogie (Speedman).
Theatrical release poster
Mordecai Richler was a Canadian writer. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) and Barney's Version (1997). His 1970 novel St. Urbain's Horseman and 1989 novel Solomon Gursky Was Here were nominated for the Booker Prize. He is also well known for the Jacob Two-Two fantasy series for children. In addition to his fiction, Richler wrote numerous essays about the Jewish community in Canada, and about Canadian and Quebec nationalism. Richler's Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! (1992), a collection of essays about nationalism and anti-Semitism, generated considerable controversy.
Richler in the 1960s