4/01 The Revelstoke Times Review for The Barber

When He's Bad, Malcolm McDowell is very very Good. by Gregg Chamberlain

     If in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, then does a psychotic hold all the winning cards in a town where "cabin fever" leaves everybody playing without a full deck? Where his serial character, Dexter, in The Barber is concerned, Malcolm McDowell believes the answer is "yes."
     "I think he does because anyone with a secret is in control," McDowell said Saturday during a short interview in between his makeup session and going on to the set for the shooting of his last scenes in the movie.
     "Dexter is a unique character because he's such a charismatic, charming guy. In a way. Of course, you know, he turns. I don't know what triggers it. I don't know with psychotics. You would have to talk to a doctor about schizophrenia. I'm not in for that. I'm just in it to make an interesting character people can watch and enjoy."
     McDowell stresses that he is just following the script which Michael Bafaro and Warren Low wrote.
     "Yes, Dexter is, of course, a terrible man, morally. But the dilemma is why does the audience like to watch him. Why do they like to watch him when they know he's such a bad man?"
     To McDowell's mind, the voice-over narrative by the character throughout the movie proves a very useful plot technique for the thriller.
     "There's nothing more winning than honesty. Even with a psychopath. It's very interesting to listen to him. But ultimately, he's a very dangerous, treacherous man."
     Away from the set, McDowell discovered Revelstoke's golf course and has enjoyed, more or less, the same challenge that every visiting golfer encounters with the tree-lined fairways.
     "Love it. Nice little course. I think any golfer who plays Revelstoke should take a chainsaw with him." He smiled. "Because I think we could alter that course a little bit to make it a little bit easier for the guys who don't hit it (the ball) quite so straight. Because I'm one of those guys and I've done a lot of tramping through those woods."
     McDowell also figures people in Revelstoke must be a very well-fed lot.
     "For a town the size of this, you are blessed with good restaurants. I haven't had a bad meal here."
     Revelstoke is the first small town where McDowell has had a film project in his career.
     "And we became part of the town itself. One of the most pleasurable experiences I remember in over a hundred movies. That's been a real treat for me."