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Susan Granger's review of "THE PASSION OF AYN RAND" (Showtime TV)
"Ayn Rand wouldn't like this movie," said director Christopher Menaul at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. But, if you're an Ayn Rand fan, I suspect you will. Novelist, philosopher, and self-described fanatic for individualism, freedom, and creativity, Ayn Rand wrote visionary books like "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." The story begins in Hollywood as Ayn Rand (Helen Mirren) and her actor-turned-painter husband (Peter Fonda) welcome an intelligent UCLA philosophy student, Nathaniel Branden (Eric Stoltz) and his girl-friend Barbara (Julie Delpy) into their home. It is a meeting that changes the lives of these two couples forever. Nathaniel is enthralled by Ayn's philosophy of Objectivism, while she is besotted by his youth and sexual vigor. He is the personification of the hero she often extols in her writings. But she still remains committed to her husband, who fulfills her on an emotional level that Nathaniel cannot comprehend. Ayn soon convinces everyone involved that it's imperative that she enjoy intimacy with Nathaniel. The passive, pitiful spouses, Frank and Barbara, allow the 15-year affair to flourish until Nathaniel falls in love with his own protege (Sybil Temchen). That betrayal ultimately destroys Nathaniel's relationship with Ayn Rand. The saga is told from the viewpoint of Barbara Branden on whose 1986 best-selling Rand biography this is based. "Ayn Rand was a genius, a great mind, and she was a bully and terribly human," Barbara Branden concludes. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "The Passion of Ayn Rand" is a captivating 7, primarily because of Helen Mirren's compelling performance in the title role. This edgy, high-quality drama debuts on Sunday, May 30, at 8 P.M. on Showtime TV with additional playdates on June 7 and June 22.
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