**1/2 out of ****
Year: 1999. Starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Michael Caine, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Jane Alexander, Kathy Baker, Erykah Badu, Kieran Culkin, Kate Nelligan, Heavy D. Screenplay by John Irving. Directed by Lasse HallstrF6m. Rated PG-13.
If any lessons can be derived from "The Cider House Rules," one is that a film can be damaged by trying too hard for Oscar nominations. The other is that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences are a bunch of suckers. It's not hard to see how this average film was able to fool the Academy into handing it no less than seven nominations: "The Cider House Rules" is a slow, quiet, historical film that contains abortion, a "controversial" topic, as a major theme. It possesses all the aspects of an Important Film and constantly pushes on you the idea that it is a supremely Important movie. That, of course, is precisely the problem with "The Cider House Rules." Not one moment goes by without the film informing us on how much we should all marvel at just how Important what we are watching really is. Too bad "The Cider House Rules," despite being a relentlessly Important film, has neither the narrative flow nor the thematic substance to qualify as truly Important. It's mostly well-made and good-looking, and it's also mostly empty.
Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire) is an orphan nobody was able to permanently adopt. Brought up at the St. Cloud's Orphanage in a small Maine town, Homer is told by his keeper, the kindly Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine), that if he's going to stay there, he ought to "be of use." So Dr. Larch teaches Homer the skills of a doctor: learning to deliver babies and care for and comfort the mothers. Homer, however, refuses to take on one of Dr. Larch's duties -- performing abortions. Dr. Larch has no qualms about it; he performs them because he doesn't want back-alley abortionists killing pregnant women, but Homer refuses on the grounds that abortions are illegal (or were, in the late 1930's). When Homer grows older, he longs to see the world beyond the orphanage, and his chance comes when an air force pilot named Wally (Paul Rudd) and his girlfriend Candy (Charlize Theron) come in for an abortion. Homer asks to leave with them over Dr. Lester's objections, and Wally agrees to take him. Homer then proceeds to get a job on Wally's family's apple farm, where he meets the head of the apple pickers, a large black man called Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo) and his daughter Rose (Erykah Badu), and also strikes up a romantic relationship with Candy after her boyfriend once again departs for war. Thrown out into the real world, Homer learns that issues of morality are perhaps not quite so clear-cut as he thought they were.
There are things to like about "The Cider House Rules." The actors, for example: Maguire has an almost uncanny leading-man presence about him, in that he doesn't immediately grab a viewer or even do much of anything to garner attention, but it's somehow difficult to ignore him. His understated calm and thoughtful eyes are well-suited to the character of Homer, who must work out difficult moral issues without breaking an externally tranquil demeanor. Charlize Theron is fine as his love interest; with an actress like her, it's not hard to see why Homer takes a liking to Candy. The interplay between the two, with Candy aloofly refusing to make a decision while Homer presses her for one, is one of the most interesting aspects of the film. Michael Caine and Delroy Lindo give powerful turns as two of Homer's father figures, both noble but flawed men. Caine's New Englander accent is for the most part believable, though he tends to stress his R's a bit too much (a common problem for British actors playing American). Singer Erykah Badu is remarkably unglamorous and surprisingly touching in a pivotal role.
John Irving adapted his own novel in writing the screenplay for "The Cider House Rules," so it's not hard to figure out why the film feels as if it's been gloriously over-stuffed. This being an Important Film written by an author who apparently couldn't bear to let one bit of his book be left out, we get one of the worst examples of "kitchen-sink" filmmaking this side of Oliver Stone (Lasse HallstrF6m's relatively restrained direction notwithstanding). Irving seemingly isn't content to merely deal with the supremely thorny issue of abortion; we must also get, in order, orphans, dying children, dying mothers, drug addiction, adultery, incest, and suicide. When the film finally pulled out (I kid you not) a crippled war veteran, Irving's emotional manipulation had reached its nadir. Playing with an audience's emotions is one thing, but does it have to be drummed in with a sledgehammer? I was with the film through many of its jumps through sentimental hoops, but by the final reel, it had lost me. Plot developments that could have been affecting were now merely grating, not to mention convenient.
Furthermore, for all the film's posturing about being a frank and open debate about abortion, the subject is given no more than a superficial gloss-over by Irving. It does deliver a fairly strong argument in favor of legalizing abortion (or keeping it legal in the contemporary sense): Dr. Larch clearly explains his position, that he performs abortions so they will be done properly and in a sanitary environment. That's fine, but Homer's great "objection" to the practice is little more than a peep about it being illegal, and Irving eventually negates that argument by introducing the idea of making one's own decisions, regardless of what the law may dictate (as in the rules posted in the cider house, which are routinely broken by the farm workers). Where is the counter-argument, the one pro-lifers consistently spout about protecting life? The film is most definitely not an even-handed treatment of the subject, but rather an obvious pro-choice diatribe. This critic isn't even a pro-life advocate; I actually tend to fall in the pro-choice camp, but I also recognize that an argument is made stronger by acknowledging the opposing viewpoint. "The Cider House Rules" barely does, and Homer's eventual decision to perform an abortion in the case of incest (which he never had a problem with anyway) doesn't force him or the film to take a definite stand on the issue one way or the other. This is a perfectly, infuriatingly safe way to deal with an issue, and one as controversial as abortion deserved better.
Irving's screenplay is a perfect example of why keeping film adaptations faithful to their source material is not necessarily a good idea. Several things here almost certainly worked better on paper than on screen, such as the double-pronged storytelling that keeps frustratingly cutting back to the orphanage when we ought to be caught up in Homer's travels. "The Cider House Rules" isn't a bad film -- it's far too crisply-made and nicely-acted for that. Toss in some beautiful New England scenery and economic direction, and you're pretty much assured that it will at least be a pleasing trip. But those looking for something a little more substantial will be disappointed, and certainly we ought to expect more out of our Best Picture nominees. Sadly, "The Cider House Rules" isn't quite the Important Film it wants to be. There is no narrative or thematic consistency to it; the film never takes a definite course. As a picture that deals with some morally thorny issues, this one stays relentlessly safe, and irritatingly aloof from its subject matter, which all adds up to a great deal of emptiness when the end credits roll: We realize that "The Cider House Rules" was a good-looking, well-acted film about nothing in particular.
-reviewed by Shay Casey
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