RAMBLING ROSE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Lightweight memoir of a boy growing up in the mid-1930's Georgia and of the commotion caused by hiring a former "loose woman" to do housework. Well filmed and to nobody's surprise Robert Duvall turns in a terrific performance as the father of the household. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4). [minor spoilers in the review]
"She caused one hell of a damnable commotion," says a middle-aged Buddy (played by John Heard) recalling the young woman who came to live with his family when he was 13. The story of that commotion is told in a golden- toned flashback that makes up all but about five minutes of the film. The "she" he is referring to is Rose (played by Laura Dern). In a small Georgia town in the mid 1930s, a younger Buddy (played by Lucas Haas) has a crush on Rose. His daddy (played by Robert Duvall) has hired Rose to save her from a life of prostitution. But Daddy has no idea how much Rose is going to disrupt his well-ordered existence.
That well-ordered existence includes three precocious children, Buddy being the oldest, and a wife who is working on her Master's degree from Columbia. In talking, Mother tends to go off on philosophical tangents and Daddy calls that "going off into the fourth dimension." Mother takes a maternal interest in this new hired girl. Mother is played, incidentally, by Dern's real-life mother, Diane Ladd. The ruckus is caused by the fact that Rose just exudes and radiates sexuality. Both Daddy and Buddy are attracted to her. At this point one is really expecting the cliche of Southern gentility being a thin veneer over decadence. This film flirts with that cliche, but generally seems to say that underneath that gentility is just more gentility. Or perhaps it is just Mother's good example. Mother seems to have a sensitivity to the feelings of all living things with the possible exception of her own children. Daddy and Buddy are fascinated by Rose's sensuality and in one memorable scene watch from a distance as Rose walks around town attracting men. Later this quality of attraction will cause what may be more trouble than it is worth.
Robert Duvall is in all probability the best American actor alive. This might have been a pleasant enough film without his contribution, but it would have not been nearly as good. His gestures and his very posture are unfailingly perfect. Lines that could have been just straight flat dialogue become witty or very telling when Duvall delivers them. Laura Dern is not a great actress but she has the right look for Rose. She has a feral sensuality that makes her attractive without being pretty balance that is just about right for Rose. The late Kevin Conway plays a Northern doctor with his accustomed slightly sinister edge. The one bad piece of casting is John Heard as the 1971 Buddy. He must look 49, speak with a Southern accent, and look like Lucas Haas. I usually like John Heard but he fails on all three counts.
RAMBLING ROSE is not a great film. Though at times it reminds one of other childhood reminiscences of the South such as TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, it has little of the power and does not really have a whole lot to say, But it is an enjoyable film and is well above the general run of films of the last few months. I would give it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
att!mtgzy!leeper
leeper@mtgzy.att.com
.
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews