Going All The Way: The Director's Edit (2022)
It's amazing to consider how many films are subjected to studio interference that have compromised the creativity of those who envisioned something more. Or perhaps the director felt that in the end, the final product didn't turn out well or what they wanted to achieve in the editing suite. This explains why director's cuts will always exist and why I find them endlessly intriguing. It's more than just remastering the past, though that is part of the process, but it's a second chance to make things right. (We can certainly wish that upon any number of Miramax titles that Weinstein did damage to - they could also receive a second chance to tell the stories the creators had originally intended).
Enter Mark Pellington's debut feature from 1997, Going All The Way. Pellington is a filmmaker who made two films I greatly enjoyed back to back with Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies. But the initial version of his debut felt rushed and tonally inconsistent, veering from almost the level of a sex comedy to a coming home war drama with mixed results. I certainly was a fan of the cast but something felt off. Now we are lucky enough to experience the version that Pellington always hoped it could be and it's a vast improvement in the form of a director’s edit which was also remastered in 4K.
Though I will say up front, my only quibble is that the newly added voiceover doesn't quite add much to the proceedings. It is akin to hearing an audiobook not unlike Little Children (another choice for narration that left me cold). But with that one issue aside, everything else not only holds up but plays even more strongly today. In terms of story it's a bit of a precursor to Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, only not as weird (though of course I've grown to love that film with subsequent viewings). There’s an unlikely friendship between contrasting personality types as they try to cope with a world that doesn’t entirely understand them.
Based on Dan Wakefield's novel of the same name, Sonny Burns (Jeremy Davies) serves as a stand-in for Wakefield and is introduced as an introverted youth who daydreams about some kind of romantic connection with the opposite sex. After having served time in the army during the Korean Army he does not feel as though he has fully matured nor does he actively connect with the more masculine crowd of loudmouths at the local bar. When he starts hanging out with the opposite of his own personality type, Gunner Casselman (Ben Affleck), he worries that his newfound buddy isn't being entirely genuine at all times.
In a way, Sonny experiences a bit of imposter syndrome within their friendship but he slowly learns to open up and be comfortable. Casselman teaches him how to seduce women and encourages him to move to New York City for a better life, away from his religious, domineering parents. Their friendship is put to the test when Casselman enters into a forbidden love affair with Marty (Rachel Weisz) while Burns battles the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder which even affects his ability to function socially. During a social gathering, it's clear that Sonny is struggling despite wanting to be outgoing and romantic with a potential love interest (Rose McGowan) after dismissing a lovely hometown gal who genuinely cared for him. What happens after a failed sexual rendezvous is rather heartbreaking and unexpected, which includes a sequence we haven’t gotten to see until now.
50 minutes of additional footage have been added to this cut and often you can tell, but it never takes you out of being emotionally engaged by what's taking place. This is one of Davies' best roles who early on showed us some range outside of what he'd later be known for - being offbeat and wild-eyed even in something as recent as The Black Phone. Not that I'm complaining because he does that so well too, but here he's showcasing true vulnerability in the form of a mentally wounded soldier just trying to move forward. Affleck also shows range not unlike what he brought to the character of Chuckie in Good Will Hunting. He's a source of comfort as well as being the center of attention, often breaking down his penchant for machismo in order to be sincere and compassionate towards Sonny. They’re different but in a way together, they accept one another for who they are - warts and all.
Their friendship is the heart and soul of this sensitive story about forming an identity in the face of uncertainty. The female characters aren't fully fleshed out and often relegated to being the sole source of unbearable desire, but this is coming from the point of view of young men returning home from war that has been deprived of any companionship, sexual or otherwise. Many of the early changes here were straight omissions now put into place - whole sequences, completely deleted but the spirit of them remaining in a more non-direct fashion. There's certainly an essential character choice in the form of a suicide attempt that the earlier version was missing. (Giving the title itself a whole new double meaning later on). Here it gives the film more of an edge, a darkness and adds a lot more surrounding what the trauma of war can do to those returning home.
Pellington deserves a lot of praise for going back to the past and making Going All The Way the film it was always meant to be. The film originally came out to indifferent reviews in 1997 and even back then I was more mixed positive on that version than overtly negative. It’s nice to see it fully fleshed out even if the pacing is still a little off and the unnecessary voiceover is a distraction rather than an enhancement. Everything else about it though works as a time capsule and the fully realized vision of a director who deserved better with this material back then. At least now it exists for us and we can find much to appreciate throughout this bold, warm and thoroughly engaging story about some complex characters experiencing the not-so-great years of their lives. But at least they have one another in this crazy world when things don’t always go their way.
