GOD SAID, "HA!" A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Were Julia Sweeney not such a gifted comedienne, listening to her uncompromising account of her brother Michael's struggle with lymphatic cancer would be unbearable.
Over the course of some nine stressful months, Sweeney attended to her ailing sibling in her small Los Angeles bungalow along with her distraught parents, who shared the same cramped living space for the duration of their son's losing battle with the disease.
Shortly before her brother's death, Sweeney herself was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer that, among other things, required the "Saturday Night Live" alumnus to undergo a hysterectomy.
This poignant chapter in Sweeney's life forms the basis of "God Said, 'Ha!'," a one-woman monologue originally devised as a stage show by the woman best known to "Saturday Night Live" fans as the androgynous Pat. First a theatrical production, then a book, then a CD, "God Said, 'Ha!'" finally arrives in its latest and, as promised by its creator, final form, a major motion picture.
"Major" might be a bit of a stretch, since this 87-minute version is, at least cinematically, a fairly static and uninspired filming of Sweeney's two-hour, one-woman show--imagine what someone like Jonathan Demme could have done with this material. But it's the version that writer/director Sweeney considers to be the best, and it's certainly the version that gives us the best seats in the house to the whole heart-wrenching experience.
The set is simple and non-threatening: a sofa and matching armchair, separated by a small table, form a comfortable, L-shaped haven. Sweeney is dressed conservatively in a dark brown suit. She stands for the most part, choosing to sit on occasion. Sometimes she stands to the left, backed by a plush velvet curtain. Sometimes the lighting paints the backdrop behind the couch a variety of mood-enhancing hues--yellow, blue, orange.
The simplicity of the setting, coupled with Sweeney's restrained physical delivery, focuses our attentions on her words, on the story she has chosen to tell.
With humor that ranges from sublime to ridiculous, Sweeney parodies her eccentric mother (complete with voices) and her National Public Radio-obsessed father. Yet in the film's most moving moment, she offers up her genuine belief that family, no matter how bizarre, will do just about anything for those they love.
Early in the film I felt a little seasick from the constantly moving camera and wished, just for a moment, it would let up. Some close-ups are out of focus, and Sweeney elects, on more than one occasion, to allow the camera crew into the frame. Also, she has difficulty making transitions from each punchline to the next story thread, but the more I got into the piece, the less distracting these minor deficiencies became.
"God Said, 'Ha!'" is an uplifting record of a courageous woman who used the gift of laughter to transcend an incredibly difficult time in her life. With this film, Julia Sweeney appears to have stared God himself in the face and said, with nothing less than triumph in her voice, "Ha yourself!"
-- David N. Butterworth dnb61@hotmail.com
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