Albert Nobbs is the story of a woman who disguises herself as a man. The ruse allows her to work and make a life for herself in 19th century Ireland, but as you'd expect, there's more to the story than that.
Glenn Close stars as Albert, a quiet, hardworking butler employed at a successful hotel in Dublin. The rich and the royal turn up at the hotel, and despite their demands or their bad behaviour, Albert is reliable, discreet, and just about invisible. He/she is the perfect servant. On his own time, Albert carefully saves every tip and extra pence and thinks about getting himself a shop. He wants a bit of independence.
A painter named Hubert Page shows up at the hotel to do some work. Page (Janet McTeer) is sent to share Albert's room for a night or two, and Albert is suitably concerned. What if Mr. Page finds out Albert's secret?
Turns out Mr. Page has similar identity secrets to keep. The discovery that he's not alone in his charade is a revelation to Albert; it gets better when it turns out that Mr. Page even has a wife. Albert lets himself dream of having a partner in life, and is guided by Mr. Page, who suggests the attractions of Helen (Mia Wasikowska), a young maid at the hotel where Albert works.
And so Albert begins trying to court Helen. Problem is, she's already been distracted by Joe (Aaron Johnson) a ne'er do well employee at the hotel. Joe is a drunk and a charmer. He promises Helen that they'll go together to America, and he urges Helen to step out with Albert just to get gifts or money from him. She goes along with Joe's plan. When Joe betrays Helen, Albert springs to Helen's defence.
In his simple hope for love, Albert risks everything.
You'll need to bring along your willing suspension of disbelief to Albert Nobbs, for much about the movie doesn't really make sense. There's no chemistry in the movie, so when the story moves into the realm of Albert's orientation, it's disconcerting. This is a love story? Maybe we have that wrong: Maybe it's a story of survival, and the notion of love was outside the realm of what Albert could expect from life. At any rate, it's confusing; the fact that both Albert and Mr. Page appear to have been bullied and physically terrorized into their life choices is also problematic.
Despite all the praise she's received for her work here, Close is lumbered with playing a character so repressed, hindered, disguised and stunted that it wouldn't really matter if Albert were male or female. Albert is a piece of wood.
Janet McTeer has better luck playing a male. If you see the movie, you too might consider how much better it would have been if the two actresses had swapped roles.
Albert Nobbs is a slender story and a vaguely unsatisfactory film. Still, it has an amazing cast, and you'll see Brendan Gleeson, Pauline Collins, Aaron Johnson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Brenda Fricker and Phyllida Law flash through the story.
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