Films' Society. - Review - movie review

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 19, 2001 by Joseph Cunneen

Corrupt, absent or drugged

Terence Davies' adaptation of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth takes to heart the warning of Ecclesiastes: "The heart of fools is in the house of mirth." The movie, which opened along with a cornucopia of end-of-the-year offerings hoping to catch holiday customers and Oscar nominations, is a richly embroidered and highly satiric look at New York high society a century ago.

The advertising features Gillian Anderson, known to millions of TV fans as Agent Scully in "The X-Files." Apparently her photograph made director Davies think of women in John Singer Sargent portraits. He took a risk in casting her in the central role of Lily Bart, a risk that proved largely successful.

Lily states her problem clearly: "A girl must get married; a man if he chooses." She also recognizes that "life is expensive": She must marry a rich man and escape the relative penury of living with a wealthy aunt who pays her dressmaker and gives her an allowance. The movie deliberately makes Lily more sympathetic by omitting several strong statements in the novel that show she has accepted the values of luxury and extreme privilege. At the same time she shows a suppressed desire to be independent of the emptiness of high society, which leads her to appreciate the attentions of Lawrence Selden (Eric Stoltz), a young lawyer who is only moderately well off but seems to offer a less hypocritical life. The scenes between Anderson and Stoltz, in which we recognize the strong attraction between them as well as the hesitation on both sides, are the best in the movie.

Most of the time Stoltz observes Lily ironically as she plays the coquette. Visiting her socialite friend Judy Trenor in the country, Lily agrees to go to church with Percy Gryce (Pearce Quigley), and eligible bore, but instinctively ruins her chances by missing her appointment and taking a walk with Selden. Facing immediate money problems after heavy losses in card games with her rich friends, Lily thoughtlessly compromises herself by accepting a loan and investment advice from Judy's husband Gus (Dan Aykroyd).

There are predictable complications later: "I just want to be thanked a little," Gus pleads. Mr. Rosedale (Anthony Paglia), the rising financier who craves social acceptance, makes her a more honest offer, but she finds herself unable to accept a marriage based on a purely financial relationship. "The House of Mirth" omits the anti-Semitism of the times and the fact that Rosedale is a Jew, but makes him the most likeable man in the movie.

The image of a corrupt society seems surprisingly contemporary. "Why is it when we meet," the weary Lily says to Selden, "we always play this elaborate game?" Rooting for a happy ending, I want to accuse Selden of cowardly inaction, but the movie remains true to its source in following Lily's downfall. Although Selden sees correctly that there is a core of integrity in this beautiful, deluded woman, he is unequal to her challenge.

How much you like Cast Away probably will depend on how excited you are by the Robinson Crusoe story. The heart of Robert Zemeckis' new film shows Tom Hanks all alone on an island where just to survive he has to reinvent civilization -- like starting a fire, a memorable image you will take away from this film.

"Cast Away" should make audiences appreciate long stretches of silence and might even teach them that a string of shootings and automobile accidents is hard on eyes and ears as well as boring. Hanks, who worked with Zemeckis before in the gimmicky "Forrest Gump," is Chuck Noland, a time-obsessed engineer with FedEx who is always in control. He wants to speed up the company's delivery system, and when we see him in Moscow demanding faster performances from its Russian workers, it is clear he's a can-do guy.

After he gets back home, he relaxes a little with his fiancee Kelly (Helen Hunt), who gives him a handsome, old-fashioned pocket watch with her picture inside, an heirloom in her family. Then he's suddenly called away on some distant FedEx troubleshooting problem, and the next thing we know he's on a plane over the Pacific in a heavy storm.

The airplane crash scene is extra-long, a carefully detailed presentation of chaos. The fact that Chuck instinctively knows how to protect himself and manages to get his life raft inflated shows that he is an inspired survivor.

After washing ashore on a barren, rocky island, however, he finds nothing to sustain him except a lot of coconuts. Desperately attacking one with a rock, he cuts his hands and discovers that the rock can be a tool. Chuck gathers FedEx boxes that float up to shore. He opens them to discover some videotapes, a pair of girls' ice skates, and a white volleyball that he names Wilson (after the manufacturer). He has to learn everything from scratch, makes mistakes -- some comic, some life threatening -- cries out in his loneliness, and rediscovers the beauty of nature. Formerly the master of time, now he has all the time in the world. He regularly consults the watch Kelly gave him, even though it no longer runs.