GUINEVERE A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Harper Sloane (Sarah Polley from GO and THE SWEET HEREAFTER) is the unhappy product of a family of lawyers. ("My family, none of us, can do anything except doodle on legal pads.") This being the movies, her family is hopelessly dysfunctional, so she leaps at the opportunity to abandon her chances at Harvard in order to take up with a photographer, Connie Fitzpatrick (Stephen Rea from THE CRYING GAME), who is older than her father.
Writer and director Audrey Wells's GUINEVERE suffers from a paucity of ideas. After setting up the plot of an older man becoming the mentor and lover to a Lolita-style character just beyond the age of consent, Wells has trouble finding ways to make the predictable story interesting and to give her characters any credibility or depth. The result is a film that is as dull as dishwater.
Having just left a screening (ROMANCE by Catherine Breillat) in which the filmmaker took great risks but failed spectacularly, I found that even that film was in some ways preferable to GUINEVERE. At least Breillat tried. Wells, on the other hand, makes a movie that's as inert as outer space. Better to swing at the ball than just stare at it with the hope that the pitcher will walk you. GUINEVERE, except for a few random scenes that are sharply written, quickly becomes tedious.
One of the good scenes, which pales in contrast to similar ones in AMERICAN BEAUTY, happens at the Sloane's dinner table. Harper doesn't participate in her family's intellectual jousting match, offering no opinions on the subject at hand. "How does one get into Harvard without opinions," her father (Francis Guinan) asks in disdain. "That's what she gets there," her mother (Jean Smart) retorts. "They'll teach her plenty of opinions."
Surreptitiously, Harper moves in with Connie, who calls her his Guinevere. Viewing himself as a one-man art institute, he wants her to take up any artistic endeavor and commit to stay with him for 5 years. This turns out to be a tradition. Gina Gershon plays Billie, one of his previous Guineveres.
Soon he is manipulating Harper with false compliments and fake emotional outbursts. He lectures her constantly about photography and dedication to her art. "You take pictures when it hurts so bad you can't stand it any more," he instructs her -- an example of the film's typically stilted dialog.
"I've been thinking," Connie tells Harper in one of their many low points together. "You know what we need? What we really need here is some fun." And so does the audience. Needless to say, the fun does not materialize.
"You call me if anything happens," Billie says towards the end. My sentiments exactly. I'll be in the lobby.
GUINEVERE runs 1:44. It is rated R for strong language and sexuality and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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