I read Joseph Mitchell's marvelous collection "Up in the Old Hotel," of which "Joe Gould's Secret" was a part, years ago and have always thought of it as one of my favorite books. I was so grateful that someone like Mitchell had made it his work to go around the city at mid-century and actually talk to people whose experiences of New York went as far back as the turn of the century, providing first-hand accounts of life in our fair city when things weren't so shiny and glossy as they are today. I always thought Mitchell a real hero.<br /><br />Now after this movie I think negatively of him. Was he really so callous toward this subject, Joe Gould, from the get-go? In the movie he never seems fascinated, but ultimately annoyed -- he seemed patronizing and dismissive from the very first. He wasn't depicted as a probing artist at all -- just a workaday family man doing his job to bring home the bacon. I just don't believe this about Mitchell.<br /><br />Will someone please make it illegal for actors like Stanley Tucci and Hope Davis to keep appearing in these cloying, precious little indies? I am so sick of them, particularly of her, what was at first her appealing acting style, the same in movie after movie after movie, now makes me want to shoot the screen. To me they seem to make these movies to feel good about themselves, "aren't we cool that we find these interesting subjects and make movies about them," -- not to make the best translation into film form that they possibly can.<br /><br />Ian Holm was terrific and it was fun to see NYC at that time depicted. The New Yorker editor seemed spot-on. But I'm mad to have my sense of a personal hero sullied by this film of suspect intentions.