It’s a man’s world?

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Slim-chance romance: Mia Wasikowska and Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs.”

Updated: January 26, 2012 12:26PM

ALBERT NOBBS
★ ★ ★ 1/2

“I think you are the strangest man I have ever met,” remarks young chambermaid Helen to Mr. Nobbs while strolling one day in 19th century Dublin during his pained attempts to court her. She has no idea.

For one thing, Mr. Nobbs is a woman. For another, he has spent so many years living a lie that he (we’ll say he) has become a virtual nonentity, observing life timidly from the vantage point of a servant who is seen but not seen and known but not known.

That’s not to say he’s not a hauntingly sympathetic figure, though. And particularly as played by Glenn Close (who won an Obie award for playing this role Off Broadway in 1982) in this odd, painful, but ultimately moving indie drama based on a short story by 19th-century Irish novelist George Moore.

In addition to her peculiar, exquisitely subtle performance, Close co-wrote the screenplay and co-produced “Albert Nobbs,” and if she had a hand in choosing director Rodrigo Garcia, she chose well. Garcia, who created HBO’s dramatic series “In Treatment,” has a history of directing sensitive dramas about women (“Mother and Child,” “Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her”) and his approach to “Albert Nobbs” is appropriately quiet, constrained, carefully observed and content to seek the sort of small dramatic moments — a sad gesture, a half-smile, a murmured revelation — that linger unexpectedly.

Mr. Nobbs is, of course, terribly lonely, but that’s what comes of a lifetime spent in hiding. Alone at the age of 14, shortly after being raped by three men, the girl who became Albert Nobbs took a job as a waiter when the woman paid to raise her died. (Nobbs’ only family tie is a photo of an unknown, well-to-do young woman with “mother” written on the back.) Becoming a man offered Nobbs the chance to earn an independent living, and also safety of a sort. As a professional servant, waiting tables in a succession of posh hotels, he cultivates invisibility: speaking only when spoken to, in a dull, low-pitched monotone, and maintaining a blank-eyed, empty expression while discreetly observing the world from the sidelines.

Two events conspire to lure Mr. Nobbs out of the security of his extraordinarily self-effacing life.

First, he makes the acquaintance of another man like himself. That is to say, another man who is actually a woman. Bluff, bemused, sociable Hubert (Janet Mc-
Teer, who unexpectedly steals every scene), however, has an entirely different
philosophy about the situation. Hubert embraces and enjoys the freedom that comes with his new identity (having previously been the abused wife of a house painter). He even has a devoted wife (Bronagh Gallagher) and enjoys a loving domestic life that seems pure paradise to Mr. Nobbs.

Second, he makes the discovery that he has finally saved nearly 600 pounds — enough to buy the little tobacconist shop he’s always dreamed of. Only now he dreams of wooing the attractive young chambermaid Helen (Mia Wasikowska, also excellent) in hope of emulating Hubert’s happiness. Though Nobbs clearly has no idea of the complications involved (he apparently imagines Helen as little more than a helpmate and companion), particularly since Helen is involved with a handsome young roughneck (Aaron Johnson) who encourages her to take all she can get from Nobbs.

It’s clear, early on, that none of this can end well, but it’s to the credit of “Albert Nobbs” that the situation doesn’t unfold in entirely predictable fashion or with grim heavy-handedness. Instead, there’s a sort of lightness and open-endedness at the conclusion that could pass for hopefulness. And there are a few moments along the way that prevent the mood from descending into dire tragedy. Notably, a wonderful scene in which Hubert and Albert put on dresses and walk on the seaside, awkwardly at first, then more confidently, until our hero (heroine?) finally bursts into an exultant run, feeling free, happy and unrestrained for what may be the first time.