The Other Sister (1999)
A Film Review by Mark O'Hara
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Because many Americans feel awkward around people with handicaps, one might think a film starring two mentally challenged young people would not have a chance. But the acting of Juliette Lewis, as Carla Tate, and Giovanni Ribisi, as Danny McMann, saves the film from the dangers of patronizing overtures and maudlin sentimentality.
Carla Lewis, the daughter of wealthy parents, has spent the last decade growing up in an exclusive boarding school for the mentally challenged. The film opens with her father, Dr. Radley Tate (Tom Skerritt), picking her up and flying with her back to their mansion and family. Mother Elizabeth (Diane Keaton) is overprotective, but eventually gives in to various manifestations of Carla's independence. First, Carla desires a high school diploma, and after her mother's resistance she succeeds in enrolling in a vocational school, her goal to become a veterinarian's assistant. Goal number two is to obtain her own apartment, an idea she conceives initially from school mate Danny McMann. Danny is also mentally challenged, and lives in an apartment paid for by his father.
Of course Carla's largest wish is for freedom within her relationship with Danny. As the two fall in love, Carla becomes more concerned with her mother's opposition. Carla has seen how her mother treats Heather and Caroline, Carla's sisters; Mrs. Tate bullies one about her impending wedding, and refuses even to meet the lesbian lover of the other. So the stage is set for extended conflicts, especially after Danny alienates himself from the family by humiliating Carla in front of the Tates' friends at Sutter Hills Country Club.
The partial result of these conflicts is a predictability that hinders the film. Diane Keaton's character is so afflicted by tunnel vision that we begin to dislike her. Her bull-headedness may have roots we can understand - an old worry about protecting the girl from childhood taunting. But writers Bob Brunner and Garry Marshall extend her concern into obsession. At least Keaton never becomes hysterical, but it's just hard to watch her redundant characterization. As her husband Radley Tate - a dentist, we presume, as he gives out toothbrushes for Halloween - Tom Skerritt is miscast. Skerritt is the right age to have three grown daughters, but perhaps the role is underdeveloped. In any case, Skerritt does not seem to inhabit the role in a sense large enough to make it convincing.
Hector Elizondo gets to play a more fleshed-out father figure. As Ernie, the owner of the apartment occupied by Danny, Elizondo is compassionate and supportive, if a little dry. He also gets to show off his guitar playing skills, and it's always good when a director utilizes an actor's particular talents. Ernie is another example of the film's realism, the extra dimension added by a well-written supporting role.
The best things about the picture are Lewis and Ribisi, though. The nuances of their performances are quite engaging. Just as Lewis seems to be in peril of over-acting, she tempers her portrayal with the pronunciation of a single word or a careful stride. It is a studied performance - one can imagine Lewis practicing how to move or react; but the sweetness she brings to the role imbues the movie with a lightness that makes the viewer more comfortable with the subject matter. Ribisi does not emphasize his mannerisms as much as Lewis does, but neither is his manner subtle. "I love you more than marching bands and more than cookie-baking," Danny tells Carla, with one line showing a sincerity that makes us love him.
Another admirable trait the film displays is not solving serious problems easily. The approach is almost unsettling when the characters disagree to the point of alienation; although it takes awhile to set up and then to close these conflicts (the film runs two hours and ten minutes, just a little long), we are gratified by the realistic handling.
For fans of 'The Graduate,' there is a wonderful schtick in which Danny plays the Dustin Hoffman role. The older film is worked in wonderfully, and is played both for comic and serious effect. Viewers should take note of another scene, a flashback Carla recalls as she ascends the stairs to her old bedroom. Kendra Krull plays the young Carla with a sign "Follow Stupid" taped to her back, a line of children following her up the stairs. When Carla lashes out and pushes a teasing boy down the stairs, we see the older Carla's horror instantly relived, a mix of guilt and revulsion at mockery. And Carla is made touchingly human, feeling emotions as sharply as anyone around her.
Even though all the characters are not flawlessly written, 'The Other Sister' is a moving and original treatment of the boy-meets-girl, loses her, etc. scenario. The film is to be admired for its gutsy approach to an oft-avoided topic: it neither condescends nor lectures about society's treatment of people with handicaps. 'The Other Sister is rated PG-13 due to discussions of sex, and would be fine for children 12 and up.
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