EYE OF GOD (director: Tim Blake Nelson; cast: Martha Plimpton (Ainsley DuPree), Kevin Anderson (Jack Stillings), Nick Stahl (Tommy Spencer), Margo Martindale (Tommy's Aunt), Mary Kay Place (Claire Spencer), Hal Holbrook (Sheriff Sam Rogers), Richard Jenkins (Willard Sprague), 1997)
EYE OF GOD is the film version of Tim Blake Nelson's stage play. Its genre is a sort of Southern noir-mystery, even if it emphasizes the part of its story that is like a biblical allegory about redemption. The film takes place in a dying rural town in Oklahoma called Kingfisher. Its story is told in a jumbled order, flashback style, which at first is quite confusing, but begins to make sense when we realize that the power of the story is not in solving the crime that was committed, but in understanding the people in this town, as we get to know them and feel for their dreams and disappointments in life. The main characters are the innocent young woman, Ainsley (Plimpton), a fast-food worker, with a glass eye (The symbolism of that eye was not as clearly developed as it could have been), the result of a childhood accident, who corresponded with a prisoner just released, that she is meeting for the first time, Jack (Anderson). He is a Christian fundamentalist, praising God for changing his life, allowing him the opportunity to work an honest job as a mechanic, who will become her husband and make her happy for a while, before his religious intolerances become a real pain. The other star of this film is Sheriff Sam Rogers (Holbrook), who is the voice of reason, the one asking the most pertinent questions about whether there is a God and whether it is feasible to just obey him blindly. He mentions the Biblical tale of Abraham, who is ready to sacrifice his innocent son Isaac for a God that he has never even seen. The sheriff believes the story should really focus on the innocent child, and that he will do all he can to see that children like that are protected from those who think they are above the law.
The opening scene starts off like a horror story, as Tommy Spencer (Nick), a fourteen-year-old, is found wandering in the woods, all bloodied, unable to speak, as the police are startled to see him in this condition, trying to figure out what happened. The sheriff practices what he preaches, and gently handles the boy, showing deep concern for his well-being. The film takes off from there and spends most of its time developing the relationship between the intractible zealot, Jack, and the vulnerable, good-hearted and very lonely Ainsley, desperate to talk to people.
The film evokes a hopeless feeling of loneliness and boredom, as this rural town is shown as a place where people are trapped in their own invention of what a God should be like. There is never any doubt about who the murderer of Ainsley will be, so it really doesn't matter that her murder is what has made Tommie catonic. What matters is that emptiness persists in this town, everyone seems trapped by their despair. There is no getting away from it-- every small town in Oklahoma looks like the other. Ainsley's marriage only increases her loneliness, as her husband acts to control every movement she makes, forcing her to stay in the house and not leave it without his permission. Religion is reduced to being an inhibiting dogma, that makes a bleak life even bleaker.
The only reason the film works so well and overcomes its tiresome tale, is because the acting from the leads is so convincing. Plimpton is the glue that holds this picture together, as she is someone we come to really care about. Holbrook is a gentle force, giving the film a sensibility to it that is hard to question. Nick is perfect in his role, conveying a quiet but unflagging desperation and teenage angst, as he wrestles with his yearnings of how to escape from his unhappiness, ever since his mother (Place) committed suicide and he is made to live with his aunt, whom he does not respect. Martindale as the aunt, adds her impenetrable mixture of private self-pity and public cheerfulness to the town's drab soul. And, Jack, as the troubled clean-cut ex-con, is a role we have seen played too often in recent years to be overwhelmed by his effective performance...
The problem with the film, is that the performances convey a deeper meaning to the film than the too many superficial messages about religion do. Nothing new seems to be uncovered, except that the film is right on target identifying this kind of Christian fundamentalism as a very real problem in rural towns all across the country. But, less religious metaphors would have allowed the film more time to develop the more persuasive tale it has to tell, of expanding the noir-mood the story set up so well but failed to follow through on.
REVIEWED ON 3/12/99 GRADE: B-
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Dennis Schwartz: "Movie Reviews" ozus@sover.net
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