To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday (1996)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 10/18/96 (limited), 10/25/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:32 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Peter Gallagher, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Baker, Wendy Crewson, Bruce Altman, Laurie Fortier, Freddie Prinze Jr. Director: Michael Pressman Producers: Marykay Powell and David E. Kelley Screenplay: David E. Kelley based on the play by Michael Brady Cinematography: Tim Suhrstedt Music: James Horner U.S. Distributor: Triumph Films
It's bad enough to be ill on your 37th birthday, but Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer) is considerably worse off. She has been dead for two years, but even that impediment doesn't stop her from showing up for the party. The reason she's still around is because her husband, David (Peter Gallagher), can't let go. Theirs was a near-perfect love, and, since her death, he hasn't been able to reach a state of emotional equilibrium. So he leads the life of a recluse, doing his best to care for his teenage daughter, Rachel (Claire Danes), while steadfastly refusing any relationship that looks like it could lead to a romantic entanglement. When he gets especially lonely -- which is almost every day -- Gillian's apparition appears to him.
Hollywood is often at its worst when attempting to deal seriously with issues of life and death. Since most major motion picture studios are most comfortable making "feel good" movies, they become skittish when faced with a script that confronts death. As a result, instead of employing the subtlety and keen insight which would generate powerful results (see DEAD MAN WALKING for an example), directors typically resort to melodrama and manipulation. That's one of the problems with TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY. The subject matter is emotionally- wrenching, but it's handled unevenly, with the accent on trying to make the audience cry rather than feel.
To its credit, there are times when TO GILLIAN gets things right. As a likable man who can't quite cope with his devastating loss, David is consistent and believable. And, for the most part, his scenes with Gillian are nicely-handled. Less sure is his relationship with his daughter. At times, TO GILLIAN strikes the proper emotional chord in their interaction -- David loves Rachel, but he's so blinded by his own pain that he can't see how much he's hurting her. Unfortunately, there are other instances, such as when David doesn't approve of a boyfriend, that play like scenes from a TV sitcom.
Personally, I would have preferred a lot more interaction between David and Rachel, and a few more scenes with Gillian, since Michelle Pfeiffer fits nicely into the role. Instead, we're given a host of secondary characters -- Gillian's older sister, Esther (Kathy Baker); her husband, Paul (Bruce Altman); a flirtatious neighborhood girl named Cindy (Laurie Fortier); and Kevin Danford (Wendy Crewson), a woman Paul and Esther have set up as a date for David. All of these characters converge on David's Nantucket home for a few days of singing '70s songs and building sand castles. It's "Gillian's Weekend" -- the anniversary of both her birth and her death.
TO GILLIAN wants to use Paul and Esther as a contrast to David and Gillian, but it never really works. Esther and Paul's relationship remains half-developed, and she in particular comes across as a bitter, jealous person who insists that there's something seriously wrong with David because he fantasizes about seeing his dead wife. Meanwhile, Kevin, David's would-be-blind date, is superfluous. The film wouldn't have changed one iota without her. Performances also factor into how we feel about the characters -- Kathy Baker isn't very good, but both Gallagher and Danes are.
As directed by Michael Pressman and scripted by David E. Kelley, TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY has the erratic feel of a play adapted for the screen, which it is (Michael Brady's award-nominated production debuted on stage 11 years ago). The plot jumps around and there's a feeling that certain relationships should be more complex than what we're seeing. There are times when this movie gets on track and delivers a series of surprisingly effective scenes, but it doesn't sustain the momentum. In fact, the likability of the main characters makes this inconsistency all the more frustrating.
I've seen some comparisons between TO GILLIAN and GHOST, but, aside from the "presence" of a dead lover, there's not much connection -- this is a more somber, less metaphysical story. And, despite its various problems, TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY occasionally touches a core of emotional honesty that makes you wonder how much better it could have been had all the extraneous characters been jettisoned.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"We go away from our parents in youth and then we gradually come back to them; and in that moment, we have grown up." -- Ingmar Bergman
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