FELICIA'S JOURNEY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Writer/director Atom Egoyan, whose last picture was the universally acclaimed THE SWEET HEREAFTER (number two on my best picture of the year list in 1997), is back with another sad tale, FELICIA'S JOURNEY. This time, working from a novel by William Trevor, he has crafted a delicate, Hitchcockean mystery.
In a tender, subtle performance, Bob Hoskins plays Joseph Ambrose Hilditch, a catering manager at a large factory in Birmingham, England. With a heart of gold, Hilditch looks after the food the workers are served, as if he were running a 3-star Michelin restaurant. "Food must be served by caring hands," the gentle but firm Hilditch lectures a salesman who dares propose bringing vending machines onto the premises to replace the cafeteria. "It keeps our spirits up. It makes us feel loved."
Not many industrial cafeteria managers care so much about their products, but Hilditch is different. Raised closely -- way too closely as we will discover -- by his mother, Hilditch stills watches her on old videos. A flamboyant woman, she was a famous chef with her own cooking program on television. She smothered her son with her overbearing demeanor, and he gagged sometimes on her food. Still, as an adult, he prepares lavish meals daily -- solely for himself -- based on her video instructions.
This man, who looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly, is also a great befriender of young women. He listens to them, when no one else does. One day, Felicia (Elaine Cassidy) comes from Ireland, searching desperately for a lost boyfriend whom she must locate. Hilditch, of course, offers to help.
Egoyan is a master at creating a mood. Britain's industrial heartland looks cold, gray and dreary in contrast to Hilditch's bright, fully equipped kitchen. And Ireland has never looked lovelier with its church ruins and lush, rolling countryside.
The two leads each seem to be holding back the real stories of their lives. As the movie unfolds, we learn exactly why Felicia feels compelled to make her journey and why Hilditch likes young women to confide in him. Neither answer will come as much of a shock. Given that the element of surprise isn't present to any extent, Egoyan makes a strategic mistake in the film's structure. The completely satisfying setup of the plot is allowed to go on for too long. It isn't until after the film's midway point that the picture is finally ready to get under way. Then, when it should be getting into gear, Egoyan gives Hilditch several long monologues that try viewers' patience. The lethargic second half is a let down as it never quite delivers on the promise of the first.
An incongruous subplot that seems lifted out of a bad comedy features a group of evangelical Christians as the story's buffoons. Using a colorful, popup book, "The Road to Paradise," they peddle God door-to-door with the unrelenting fervor of a Fuller Brush man. They serve, however, only to clutter up the storyline and slow its momentum when it should be building up.
Hitchcock made fascinating films that, compared to the body of his work, were relatively run of the mill for him. So it is with Egoyan's FELICIA'S JOURNEY, an intriguing picture that's ultimately a disappointment because it's a near miss. Well worth seeing, but far from the director's best.
FELICIA'S JOURNEY runs too long at 1:56. It is rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements and related disturbing images and would be fine for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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