CARRIED AWAY
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.5 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 Release date: beginning 4/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:44 MPAA Classification: R (Nudity, sex, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Amy Locane, Amy Irving, Gary Busey, Hal Holbrook,=20 Julie Harris Director: Bruno Barreto Producers: Lisa M. Hansen and Paul Hertzberg Screenplay: Ed Jones and Dale Herd based on the novel FARMER by=20 Jim Harrison Cinematography: Declan Quinn Music: Bruce Broughton U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
For the most part, Dennis Hopper is known as a psycho villain of=20 the first order. Consider this resume: the off-the-wall sleazeball in=20 BLUE VELVET, the mad bomber in SPEED, and the nutcase gang leader in=20 WATERWORLD. It seems that when you want a really over-the-top bad guy,=20 Hopper's the one to get. So it comes as something of a surprise to find=20 him playing completely against type in CARRIED AWAY. Here, he's Joseph=20 Svenden, a shy, insecure school teacher who probably couldn't kill=20 anyone if pushed into it. Most amazing is that Hopper not only succeeds=20 in the role, but thrives. Giving his best performance since 1991's=20 PARIS TROUT, Hopper immerses himself in Joseph so completely that the=20 actor's own personality, along with his considerable baggage, becomes=20 submerged. =20
It's difficult to say what CARRIED AWAY is primarily about, because=20 it deals with so many issues: how we view sexuality, how love compares=20 to lust, and how everyone -- men and women -- have a tendency to become=20 stale and complacent with the approach of late middle age. Joseph knows=20 about this latter issue first-hand. At age 47, he's dissatisfied with=20 his life, but doesn't know what to do about it. He's engaged to a=20 woman, Rosealee Henson (Amy Irving), whom he has loved since high=20 school, but something lifeless in their relationship keeps him from=20 actually tying the knot. He hasn't found anything that he's truly good=20 at -- he's a mediocre teacher and a worse farmer. He lives with his=20 dying mother (Julie Harris) in the house where he has spent his entire=20 life. Joseph is trapped, both in an infirm body (a childhood accident=20 caused serious damage to one foot), and in his village. =20
Relief -- or at least a modicum of excitement -- arrives in the=20 person of Catherine Wheeler (Amy Locane), a sexually precocious 17-year=20 old with a killer body. Her parents move into one of Joseph's=20 neighboring houses, and she becomes his student at the small two- classroom school where he teaches. In her own way, Catherine feels as=20 trapped as Joseph. Her mother is a drunk and her father is more=20 interested in shooting pheasants than caring for her. So, looking for=20 an escape, she discovers her teacher, whom she clumsily seduces. An=20 expert touch isn't needed, however. Joseph is quite willing, and,=20 though he feels guilty at first, he gradually comes to view his=20 relationship with Catherine as a liberating experience=85 until she begins= =20 to fantasize about marrying him.
At its heart, CARRIED AWAY is a love story. It's about Joseph and=20 Rosealee, and how Catherine's presence in their lives invigorates their=20 relationship. Through his affair with Catherine, Joseph discovers what=20 it means to be alive. He wakes up. In his own words, he is "carried=20 away", and, in a poignant, touching scene with Rosealee, he shows her=20 the joys of letting go. "I want us to change," he says, "before we get=20 too old and die."
In addition to Hopper's fine job, the principal supporting players=20 are solid. Amy Irving (CROSSING DELANCEY) bears all (literally and=20 figuratively) in a performance of surprising emotional depth. Rosealee=20 is a sad figure who, like Joseph, wants something that she doesn't=20 understand and can't put into words. As Catherine, Amy Locane (BLUE=20 SKY) exudes not only sexuality, but vulnerability. Despite frequently=20 appearing as the vixen temptress (like when she's imitating Lady=20 Godiva), Locane offers us glimpses of the hurt, confused child carefully=20 concealed beneath the brazen exterior. Gary Busey, as Catherine's=20 father, is uncharacteristically restrained, and Hal Holbrook provides=20 most of the comic relief as a small town doctor.
One of the things I found most refreshing about CARRIED AWAY is how=20 little melodrama there is for such a potentially-controversial issue. =20 When Joseph's relationship with Catherine comes into the open, as it=20 surely must, we're not treated to histrionic displays by distraught=20 parents and neighbors. In fact, director Bruno Barreto has a little fun=20 with the audience concerning the reaction of Catherine's father. But,=20 ultimately, the one who has the most difficulty coping with the thought=20 of a 47-year old man sleeping with a 17-year old student is Joseph=20 himself. =20
Although Catherine is developed as a real character with real=20 problems, CARRIED AWAY isn't as much about her as it is about Joseph's=20 reaction to her. This is, after all, his story. Although these two=20 profess to love one another, they are both lying, perhaps as much to=20 themselves as to each other. Their reasons for having sex are far more=20 complex than simple "love", and Barreto's film has the courage to=20 examine those reasons. CARRIED AWAY is erotic, but it's also thoughtful=20 and intelligent, and, coupled with Hopper's extraordinary performance,=20 that's reason enough to be carried away by this motion picture.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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