THE NUTCRACKER
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating (Linear 0 to 10): 6.1
Date Released: 11/24/93 Running Length: 1:33 Rated: G (Nothing offensive)
Starring : Jessica Lynn Cohen, Macaulay Culkin, Darci Kistler,
Gen Horiuchi, Wendy Whelan
Narrated by Kevin Kline
Choreography: George Balanchine
Director: Emile Ardolino
Producers: Robert A. Krasnow and Robert Hurwitz
Staging: Peter Martins
Music: Peter Tchaikovsky
Released by Warner Brothers
On stage, THE NUTCRACKER is marvelous entertainment, despite the $30-plus price of a ticket. As a movie, a great deal of the exuberance is washed away, leaving behind a pale shell of the live production. Those seeing the story in person experience a spectacle; those who settle for the inside of a darkened theater get culture.
For those not familiar with the story, THE NUTCRACKER presents the magical, dreamlike Christmas Eve of a little girl named Marie (Jessica Lynn Cohen), who is escorted through various wondrous realms by a prince (Macaulay Culkin), culminating in a grand gala in the Hall of the Sugarplum Fairy (Darci Kistler). There is a great deal of dancing, some of it spectacular, with everything unfolding to the strains of Tchaikovsky's unparalleled score.
The main problem with the movie is that it opts to present a relatively mundane version of the stage production. Utilizing almost none of the advantages offered by the medium of film, THE NUTCRACKER stumbles where it should soar. There isn't any way for a motion picture to effectively capture the feeling of watching a performance live, so this presentation should have given its audience something that can't be experienced during the stage show. It doesn't, and therein lies THE NUTCRACKER's chief flaw.
The pacing is uneven, with the first half of the film moving like molasses. During this section, there's a lot of on-stage posturing, but little dancing. The change for the better comes when the setting shifts to the Hall of the Sugarplum Fairy. Even given the confines of the screen, THE NUTCRACKER bursts to life at this point.
With a G-rating, THE NUTCRACKER is suitable for viewers of all ages, but I wonder how many of the younger members of the audience will get restless during what is, in essence, ninety minutes of classical music and ballet. I know that at age seven, I would have. "Know thy children" is the best maxim to apply; those with short attention spans will probably start to fidget before the half-way point.
Director Emile Ardolino (DIRTY DANCING, SISTER ACT) leaves THE NUTCRACKER as his final motion picture--he died of AIDS on Saturday, November 20 at the age of 50. Unfortunately, this is far from his best work. The direction is rarely inspired, and there are numerous occasions when the camerawork lets the audience down by choosing an ill-timed closeup instead of a wide-angled shot. Ardolino's attempts to breathe life into his screen version are too-often unsuccessful.
The cast, mostly comprised of members of the New York City Ballet, is excellent ... with one exception: Macaulay Culkin. Included more for his name than anything else, Culkin is barely adequate, and the annoying smirk he wears makes his presence progressively less bearable. Jessica Lynn Cohen, on the other hand, gives a tremendously appealing portrayal of Marie.
The saving grace of this screen adaptation of THE NUTCRACKER is that the source material is so good that it can survive even a flat interpretation. The unfortunate thing is that with a little more verve and imagination, this NUTCRACKER could have become one of the all-time classic holiday films. Instead, it's just another motion picture opening on Thanksgiving weekend 1993.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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