Studio:Miramax , Prod.Richard Gladstein.Dir.Lasse Hallstrom, Written and based on the novel by John Irving,Stars Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Michael Caine, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Erykah Badu and Kieran Culkin, .Release date:Dec. 10, 1999..Theater:20scr.Movie played on:1: 40 to 50 patrons.
 

The Cider House Rules
Sometimes a movie comes along out of nowhere. Even though you know the author of the book on which the movie is based, even though you know the director's previous works, and even if you think that  you'd like to see the movie in question because, say, Michael Caine is getting good reviews, and you might think that this is the best supporting actor performance (although he'll probably be nominated Tuesday for Best Actor) of the year. But you really don't care to see the film this weekend. The Beach is playing, and it's more current. All I've written about since I started reviewing again are films which premiered months ago and I am only now catching up with them. Well, as fate would have it, I missed The Beach, and saw The Cider House Rules, instead, and that has made all the difference.

This film, movie, I don't even know how to characterize it properly, since it is such a "literary" piece of filmmaking, was my second choice. I like Charlize Theron and Tobey Maguire. As I stated, I wanted to see Michael Caine's performance, and see him affect an American accent, but  the film  wasn't real strong on my want-to-see meter, but I'm very glad I saw it, in fact, it is the first film in some time that I highly recommend. It knocked my socks off. It blew me away. The acting, the cinematography, the production design, the costumes and make-up (you know it's the forties because Charlize looks right at home in the get-ups). Every thing is so right on, and even though this is a John Irving novel I did not read, Irving has a quirky charm, you always know that you have to be as prepared to be shocked and saddened as you are to be tickled into laughter. The movie, adapted from Irving's novel by the author, is sure to win Best Adapted Screenplay this year. I am now a fan of this movie, and it is so weird that I didn't even really care to see it at all.

Sometimes the happy accident of filmgoing is just this kind of happy accident. As I said, I really admire the actors, I respect the director, I knew the author wrote the script, and since Irving took his name and his title off of my favorite book of his, A Prayer For Owen Meany, and they turned it into Simon Birch, I did want to see this movie, but not necessarily today. I am so glad I saw it , though. This is one of those "movies" from the past, where the filmmaking skills are hidden behind the telling of a great story. Like all of Irving, it is a journey by the main character, Homer Wells (Maguire),in this case, and through the most outlandish characters and adventures, how he finds his true calling, or in the question of Delroy Lindo's Mr. Rose, "What business are you in?"

The things that most impress me abut The Cider House Rules are the little unseen and unremembered things that put the viewer into the story. The film-making does not call attention to itself, the way, say, a Michael Bay or Brian de Palma film does. Lasse Halstrom directed My Life as a Dog, a very evocative and sentimental piece. He brings this evocation to The Cider House Rules, a film , which, in the wrong hands, could have been laugable. The story concerns the life of Homer Wells, who is brought to the orpanage by folks who give him up for adoption. Dr. Larch (Caine) narrates (and in a fine New England Maine accent, at that) telling the story of how Homer was brought back to the orpanage twice. Dr. Larch teaches the lad everything he knows, and soon Homer is making the rounds along with the doctor.

The early scenes in the orphanage were scenes I was prepared to dislike. I really wasn't in the mood for a Dickensian orphan story, but the film (and I'm sure this is in the book, it's so Irvingesque) makes fun of the similarities between the first scenes, and books like Oliver Twist. Homer even reads David Copperfield to the little boys, and one of the characters is named Steerforth. But the sheer craft of Halstrom's technique totally involves the viewer in the piece. I don't want to rehash the plot, as usual, but I will merely mention the device which turns the movie around (Irving novels always have a "twist" in which the main character goes someplace completely different, and finds his purpose.) and set up the scene where I first had tears in my eyes. (This is a film in which the viewer should be prepared to experience emotion along with the characters, although I did not feel Halstrom was "manipulating" me in any way, like, say, Steven Spielberg is wont to do. ) A couple come to the orphanage so that the woman, Charlize Theron, can get an abortion. (Dr. Larch performs these operations knowing full well he could get arrested if he were found out.) When the couple get ready to leave, Homer opts to go with them, to see the world. He has lived in the orphanage all his life, and has never even seen the ocean, although he is in Maine. When he tells the couple, they are dumbfounded. The camera flies above the car, as it travels down the tiny road that night.. Fade out. We fade in on Homer, with his head against the car seat, as the birds cry, and the ocean pounds. The camera pulls back as Homer awakes. (The car is a vintage late forties convertible, which would be a new car in the movie's time frame.) He passes , and the view is of his back, as he goes through the reeds. The ocean sounds closer, but we don't see it yet. Finally, it is revealed, along with the couple playing on the shore. I swear, the collective audience (there were about 40 people in the theater) got the full emotional jolt. I knew as the tears streamed down my face, that this wasn't just a good movie, it was a work of art.

I won't mention anything else about the plot, except to say that the twist comes out of nowhere, as does the tragedies, although this , like all of Irving, does not enrage or upset the viewer. You leave this film fulfilled and enriched. It is a very good film, and it is sure to be an Oscar frontrunner. (I don't want it to win, alas, my pick this year is American Beauty.)
Do see this movie. If nominated for Oscars it will be in theaters for a while. When they say "They don't make movies like that anymore,"they should go see The Cider House Rules.