Joe Gould's Secret, a small, generally likable film from director and star Stanley Tucci (Big Night), is a true story about New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell (Tucci) and his relationship with an infamous Greenwich Village vagabond named Joe Gould (Ian Holm, Sweet Hereafter). Gould claimed to be writing "The Oral History of Our Time." Mitchell, who is considered by some to be the greatest English prose stylist of the 20th century, became interested in both Gould and his "masterwork."

The movie's first half focuses on Mitchell and his method of writing a story about this New York fixture. That part is hugely enjoyable, as Tucci has a marvelous relationship with both the camera and his on-screen family (Hope Davis as his wife is radiant). Unfortunately, the second half's emphasis moves towards Gould, an exasperating character whose grandiose claims ring more and more hollow.

Also, the movie never tries to explain the real mystery of Mitchell's life--after writing a book about Joe Gould, Mitchell went to his New Yorker office every day for another 32 years but never wrote another piece. That'd be the real story, but unfortunately Tucci doesn't broach that subject until the end credits. Nonetheless, Joe Gould's Secret is agreeable entertainment, with solid performances and a low-key manner.  

J. Robert Parks