_Affliction_ (R) *** (out of ****)
Paul Schrader's adaptation of the Russell Banks novel is just as bleak as 1997's justly celebrated Banks adaptation, Atom Egoyan's _The_Sweet_Hereafter_, but, unlike with that haunting masterpiece, something's amiss. It's not in the acting: Nick Nolte delivers a terrifically nuanced performance as Wade Whitehouse, the reigning police officer in a small New England town; even more memorable is a frightening James Coburn as Wade's alcoholic father, whose physical abuse of his son as a child--or, rather, its psychological after-effects--is the "affliction" that Wade continues to suffer from. Neither is there anything at fault on a technical level, boasting superior cinematography by Paul Sarossy, who also shot _The_Sweet_Hereafter_.
What's crucially missing is a strong emotional connection, the development of which is hampered by Schrader's glacial pacing, which picks up by the third act, only to end rather abruptly. The film lacks a knockout punch because of the familiarity of the whole"violence begets violence" premise, and Schrader doesn't go in any particularly new direction with it. Even so, the powerful performances by Nolte and Coburn make the film well worth a look, even if they are part of a less-than-developed whole.
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