Julianne Moore Pushes Freudian Implications to Limit in True Story of ‘Savage Grace’

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 08:56:55 -0700

Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The national acting treasure Julianne Moore never shies away from a performance challenge.

From her memorable exposure in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” to her willingness to go all the way in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights,” Moore has proven that true vulnerability in a role requires the ability to bare – and bear with – all.

Julianne Moore in “Savage Grace”.
Photo credit: IFC Films

In “Savage Grace,” which is based on the true story of the eccentric Barbara Daly Baekeland, Moore once again puts the acting pedal to the metal.

Moore plays Barbara Baekeland: the socialite wife of Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane). Brooks is the heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. With the birth of their son, Anthony (Eddie Redmayne), her wealthy lifestyle seems complete.

But signs of her early eccentricities morph into a darker psychological unraveling especially in the relationship with her son.

Barbara begins to notice Anthony’s gay awakening and tries to introduce him to women. Anthony soon takes up with a local girl near their home in Majorca, Spain. His inability to connect in the relationship leads to his father moving in on the girl and soon his parents are divorced.

Eddie Redmayne (left) in “Savage Grace”.
Photo credit: IFC Films

The split puts Barbara into a tailspin that eventually leads to a suicide attempt. She now leans on her son, and when they move to London, a couple extreme confrontations end in tragedy.

Moore’s absorption into the role actually seems better than the thankless craziness written for the character. With each inappropriate outburst, Moore subtly holds onto Baekeland’s obsessive-compulsive nature even when it would be easier to just play one psychotic note.

The story, which spans the 1940s to the 1970s, unfolds with stops and starts in the locations where the Baekeland family lived (New York, Paris, Majorca and London) with barely a breath in between to take it all in.

As characters age quickly from stop to stop, the time line is somewhat confusing.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Savage Grace” image gallery.

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald.

The supporting players are underwritten next to Moore’s grandiose character. Her husband, Brooks, is never shown once as happy or satisfied with his marital choice. His leaving seems more elementary than suicide inducing.

Son Anthony – who’s eventually diagnosed as a schizophrenic in real life – is never shown to push the envelope of this madness. He seems more like a willing participant in his mother’s sphere.

Julianne Moore is prepared to take on anything the “mother of the year” is up against including humiliating sexuality and raw depression. Moore’s acting range – up to and including an act of unspeakable wrongness – allows her to dive into the deep end without making Barbara a cartoon. It is the highlight of this otherwise expendable film.

The Chicago engagement of “Savage Grace” began on June 13, 2008 at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Deal’ is No Big Deal as Career of Burt Reynolds Fades Away

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:07:48 -0700

CHICAGO – Poor Burt Reynolds. As the No. 1 box-office star from 1978 to 1982, he revived his film career in 1997 with “Boogie Nights”. Since then, he has had the long, slow decline of “B” movies and bad remakes. Reynolds even tainted his own legacy by participating in the horrible 2005 redo of “The Longest Yard”.

Shannon Elizabeth in “Deal”.
Photo credit: MGM

Will he ever get the one last script that will return him to glory? The film “Deal” isn’t it. Reynolds plays Tommy Vinton: a mysterious stranger who begins observing young poker hotshot Alex (Bret Harrison).

Alex is from the Internet age and won an online contest to get to the World Series of Poker. Tommy is an old-school, professional poker player from the 1970s whose luck ran out shortly thereafter.

He hasn’t played in 20 years on a promise to his wife. Tommy sees something in the Internet hotshot, though, and on the sly begins to coach him and bankroll his run through the poker tournament circuit.

As it happens in old mentor/young hotshot films, the two must angrily part. When you throw in the subplot of Reynolds’ wife leaving him, it sets up the inevitable showdown between old professional Tommy and his former protégé. According to Hoyle, it has to be at the World Series of Poker, too.

Burt Reynolds in “Deal”.
Photo credit: MGM

The script treats all the characters like cliché factories. Every narrative element and poker situation is played up as if nobody in the history of television or cinema has even seen it before.

This recycles every nuance of every underdog sports movie – from “Rocky” to “Rudy” to “Invincible” – but not well.

Bret Harrison as Alex plays the part like a poor man’s Charlie Schlatter: all toothy smile but with no idea how to develop his character.

Shannon “American Pie” Elizabeth gets the worst “deal” of anyone in playing Alex’s potential girlfriend as background material for a sleazy payoff. It was actually cringe inducing because it was set up poorly with a tacky and ultimately unnecessary reveal.

RELATED IMAGE GALLERY
View our full, high-resolution “Deal” image gallery

RELATED READING
More film reviews from critic Patrick McDonald

Reynolds plays Tommy like he needs a three-year nap. His dyed hair and plastic surgery scars are evident in every close-up. Even when his character is in supposed triumph, his demeanor radiates defeat.

It was acting as paycheck cashing that only a star of his magnitude could achieve. Perhaps his playhouse in Florida is behind in the mortgage.

I kid old Burt. I’d like to think there’s that one last script out there that can take the 72 year-old legend to retirement glory. Reynolds has a picture opening in 2009 where he plays a character named Jefferson Steel – that’s right: Jefferson Steel.

The name of this epic is “A Bunch of Amateurs”. That, too, is an apt title description for the production team behind “Deal”.

“Deal” opens in Chicago and elsewhere on April 25, 2008.

By PATRICK McDONALD
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com