Movie Review

Far From Heaven

The screen explodes in color in Far From Heaven, a new movie directed by Todd Haynes (Safe, Velvet Goldmine) starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Haysbert.

The critical buzz for Far From Heaven has been building for months and the more I read about it the more intrigued I became, and now that I've seen the movie I've come to two conclusions. Far From Heaven falls just short of greatness, yet is still a great movie-going experience and Julianne Moore is now the leading Best Actress contender based on her perfectly nuanced performance as a 1950's suburban housewife who's life is far from perfect.
The movie is Haynes's homage to the 1950's "women's pictures," the melodramas by German director Douglas Sirk. I am not familiar with this genre, and have not seen the films (All That Heaven Allows, Magnificent Obsession, Written in the Wind) that Haynes is paying homage to nor am I sure if that helps or hinders my understanding and appreciation of his movie. There were times in Far From Heaven that bordered on parody and maybe that's partly the point, as those 1950's dramas viewed through the prism of life in 2002 probably do seem campy. Yet as the movie progressed, I realized that Haynes was not interested in camp nor parody but that he was taking all of the hidden subtext in those earlier movies and bringing them to them to the forefront in a way that 1950's movies never could.

Far From Heaven is quite similar to American Beauty in that it asks the audience to "look closer" at the seemingly perfect lives of the main protagonists. Everything on the surface appears to be just fine, but upon closer review the lives of Cathy and Frank Whitaker (Moore and Quaid) are spinning out of control as their secrets start to unravel the fabric of their marriage and their standing in their town. When Cathy Whitaker finds out that her husband has been unfaithful to her with another man, she has no one to turn to and no one to talk to about Frank's "sickness" except for her gardener, Raymond, who is played by Haysbert. Her friends are mildly shocked to find out that Cathy is so "liberal in her sympathies with Negroes," and as her friendship with Raymond grows, so does the unrequited longing between them.

There is a lot going on in Far From Heaven, and maybe even too much but the movie is anchored by Moore?s delicate, sublime performance. Her character lives in a world similar to the one in Edith Wharton novels where appearances mean everything, and where every dialogue is characterized more by what is not said than what is said. Haynes is not mocking the innocence of the time, but showing us how similar it is to our current times once you dig deeper beyond the surface to expose the pain, emotional suffering, and hypocrisy of our suburban lives. Moore?s character, while na?ve at first, slowly recognizes that she is a woman with intellectual curiosity who hungers for emotional intimacy and honesty. What makes Moore?s performance so flawless is that it is in contrast to the almost operatic melodrama that is building around her.

The screen bursts in color, the music swells, her husband has an emotional meltdown, and all the other characters see their bigotry and anger exposed. Yet Cathy appears to be in control of her emotions and feelings. However, she?s not in control and you can see the pain and anguish in Moore?s face through subtle gestures and movements. Most actresses would have been tempted to ?go for broke? as a wife dealing with the twin demons of homosexuality and racism in her life (not to mention the intense social pressure of her life in Hartford, CT), but Moore is so confident an actress (and obviously Haynes is confident in her abilities as well) that she doesn?t need to descend into ?actorly? histrionics to show us the pain that her character must go through as she slowly bursts out of the cocoon of her oppressive ?perfect? suburban life.

I think that by focusing on both Frank?s no longer repressed homosexuality and on society?s racist views of her friendship with Raymond, that Haynes stretches the movie a bit thin. Either story would have been enough for one movie, and at times it feels as though Quaid and Haysbert are somewhat shortchanged in their roles. Still, if the movie falls a little short of its own ambition that is perfectly acceptable because in the end the movie is not an issue movie about homosexuality or racism, but a picture about the amazing transformation of a suburban housewife from na?ve homemaker to an independent woman. And it succeeds because Julianne Moore has phenomenal talent. Get ready for your close-up Julianne, the Oscar awaits.

Todd's Grade: B+

A	38.5%
B	61.5%
C	0.0%
D	0.0%
F	0.0%