THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 4.5 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: beginning 3/14/97 (limited) Running Length: 1:37 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Ron Rifkin, Tony Goldwyn, Timothy Hutton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ronny Graham, Elizabeth Franz, Gil Bellows, Eric Bogosian Director: Daniel G. Sullivan Producers: Jon Robin Baitz, Randy Finch, Ron Kastner Screenplay: Jon Robin Baitz based on his play Cinematography: Robert D. Yeoman U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
Spending 100 minutes with the Geldharts seems a little too much like a penance for past misdeeds. THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE, adapted by Jon Robin Baitz from his 1989 play, is an unfortunate motion picture filled with poorly-developed characters and half-realized, cliche-riddled plot elements. Aside from a powerful performance by Ron Rifkin (reprising his stage role) and a few quietly effective scenes, there's not much reason to subject yourself to a film this off-putting.
One of the most evident flaws in THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE is that it doesn't put much effort into developing its characters. Each is introduced with an anecdote (one is teaching, another is on television, a third is having a meeting with Japanese bankers), and that's supposed to be sufficient to establish who they are. It's not, and, as a result, we have to work hard to generate any emotional response to them as the movie progresses. Too often, it seems like we're watching the inventions of a writer rather than unique individuals.
Rifkin plays Isaac Geldhart, the sole survivor of a family that was wiped out in the Holocaust. Isaac carries around a huge burden of guilt, and, as a form of atonement, he has devoted the bulk of his adult life to publishing volumes about the Holocaust and its aftermath. Geldhart/Kreeger Books has become "the single most important publisher of serious literature", but the imprint's specialization has led to financial ruin. It has been six years since Geldhart/Kreeger has had a bestseller and the firm is "hemorrhaging money". Without some sort of change, it will go under, but Isaac is unwilling to compromise.
So Isaac's children get involved to keep the company afloat. Each represents a different, easily-identifiable stereotype. There's Aaron (Tony Goldwyn), the gay child who never got out from under his father's thumb. He manages Geldhart/Kreeger's finances but has been given no creative control. Martin (Timothy Hutton) suffers from cancer, but it's in remission. He tries to avoid his family as often as he can, since the stress of interacting with them could cause his symptoms to re- emerge. Finally, there's Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), who hosts a children's television show while engaging in a dalliance with a married man (Roger Rees). Like Martin, she prefers not to get involved in the firm, but changes her mind when Aaron makes it clear that, if things continue as they're going, there won't be a business at all.
THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE doesn't offer much to chew on. The story isn't especially engrossing and neither Baitz nor director Daniel G. Sullivan (who directed the stage play) bring anything new or vital to its telling. For the most part, we're watching characters go through the motions. It's dull, pedantic, and pointless, and the final coup de grace, which is supposed to bring a sense of closure to the situation, feels contrived and out-of-place. It's an ending that makes the whole movie seem like a cheat.
The weightiest and most potentially interesting aspect of THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE centers around Isaac's guilt and how it has shaped his life. As a child, he was hidden from the Nazis, but he had to watch as his parents and siblings were taken away to their deaths. Had the script chosen to explore Isaac's tortured psyche more deeply, this could have been a compelling issue. Instead, however, we are presented with a frustratingly shallow surface view that depicts Isaac as an ogre who's more interested in controlling his children than loving them. Rifkin's top-notch performance gives Isaac a forceful personality, but not a particularly deep or sympathetic one. It's easier to dislike Isaac than to understand him. And, rather than dealing with the generational conflict in a forthright manner, Baitz's script is compelled to introduce yet another standby plot device -- inflict Isaac with creeping senility.
Aside from Rifkin, the acting of the leads is uniformly bland. Neither Timothy Hutton, Tony Goldwyn, nor Sarah Jessica Parker seem comfortable in their roles. In Parker's case, this is surprising, since she played Sarah on stage. Two of the supporting cast members -- Ronny Graham as the author of a history of Nazi medical experiments and Elizabeth Franz as Isaac's devoted secretary -- steal scenes, although not enough to prevent THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE from inducing boredom.
For a film like this to work, the characters have to seem real, the situations have to be interesting, and the approach needs to be fresh. Baitz and Sullivan are 0-for-3. Tired dysfunctional family cliches utilizing stock characters rarely translate into effective drama. What little impact this film attains can be attributed directly to Rifkin's work. Without him, this would have been a sorry project. Ultimately, THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE is pretty insubstantial.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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