THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS (Sony Pictures Classics - 1997) Starring Arija Bareikis, Blythe Danner, Hope Davis, Laurel Holloman, Brian Kerwin, James LeGros, Julianne Moore, Roy Scheider, Michael Vartan, Noah Wyle Screenplay by Bart Freundlich Produced by Mary Jane Skalski, Tim Perell, Bart Freundlich Directed by Bart Freundlich Running time: 93 minutes
*** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: B
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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Bart Freundlich's feature film debut, THE MYTH OF FINGRPRINTS, is exciting -- not for the film itself, but for the promise it heralds for its helmer and screenwriter. He demonstrates a real gift for sharp, clever dialogue and has created a series of rich, interesting, and well-developed credible characters, while his direction of the film is astonishingly assured for a first-timer, with good comic pacing and adept camera work. Although THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS features a large ensemble cast and a myriad of concurrent subplots, Mr. Freundlich skillfully juggles his many characters in an evenly focused fashion where no single storyline inadvertently takes dominance in the film.
The shame is that THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS doesn't have a terribly interesting plot: Mr. Freundlich's film is an all-too-familiar tale of a dysfunctional family reuniting for Thanksgiving weekend, where closeted skeletons eventually are revealed after much wistful retrospective discussion by family members over the course of the holiday. THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS handles this routine storyline in a solid fashion -- it *is* an entertaining film -- but it's somewhat frustrating that such witty dialogue and such great characters as those Mr. Freundlich have fashioned are used in service of a plot which is not their equal in terms of calibre or ambition.
Set in chilly New England, the film opens with Lena (Blythe Danner) and Hal (Roy Scheider) in preparation for the return of their four adult children after an absence of three years. In quick succession, siblings Leigh (Laurel Holloman), Jake (Michael Vartan), Mia (Julianne Moore), and Warren (Noah Wyle) pass through the front doors of the family home, with Jake bringing along forthright free-spirited girlfriend Margaret (Hope Davis), and Mia towing sadsack boyfriend Elliot (Brian Kerwin). While appearing on the surface to be a typical happy American family, eccentricities and quirks are unveiled and buried secrets are unsurfaced which reveal the deep-rooted dysfunctionality which has splintered apart the family.
While the pensive moments in THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS register nicely, the film's greatest strength is in the interaction between the characters, which come off as easy, amusing and boisterous. Each of the siblings have grown up coping with the dour family environment in different fashions. Leigh is mischievous and brash, while Mia is consumed by bitterness and has not a kind word to snap at anyone. Jake and younger brother Warren appear on the exterior to be wholesome, clean-cut, well-adjusted young men, but they are fighting their own interior demons: Jake is nagged by self-doubt, while Warren is haunted by the loss of his relationship with high school sweetheart Daphne (Arija Bareikis) and is masking a sense of overwhelming sadness. None of them are able to relate on a personal level to their father Hal, who is decidedly eccentric and unable to communicate with his children on any level, even skulking off to the treehouse to avoid discussion. The family's patient matriarch Lena is the single common element in these two disparate sets.
Mr. Freundlich benefits from a fine ensemble cast, all of whom turn in good performances and have good chemistry with one another. Ms. Holloman, a rising new star, is particularly good as Leigh, the playful imp of the family, while Ms. Davis turns in a very funny performance as Margaret, whose sprightly demeanour and propensity to speak what's foremost on her mind brings about many embarrassing and amusing moments. Ms. Moore's performance is the most interesting in the group; she successfully depicts Mia's unmitigated rage masking a well of sorrow, and when she encounters old grade schoolmate Leonard/Cezanne (James LeGros) during a trip into town, one can feel her desperation as she listens to his wistful story -- she *wants* to believe him, and that comes through in Ms. Moore's performance.
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS marks the first major feature film for Mr. Wyle since his emergence as a public figure with the success of the television drama ER. I first noticed him in Michael Bortman's CROOKED HEARTS (and subsequently spent several years wondering whatever happened to this promising young actor), which is extremely similar on a thematic basis to THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS; the number of parallels between the two films is striking. As Mr. Wyle was very keen on THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS, being the first in the cast to sign on to the project and even obtaining a credit as an associate producer, there is ample cause to assume that he has some sort of predisposed affinity for material of this nature.
THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS doesn't break any new ground with its routine storyline -- it follows the familiar path tread by all films of this sort -- but it generates some big laughs and is a solid and successfully amusing diversion. The film is a wholly respectable first feature, and Mr. Freundlich demonstrates a great deal of promise as a screenwriter and, to a slightly lesser extent, as a director -- keep an eye out for him: if his next project is built around a more interesting and ambitious story, it could be very good indeed.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "Man, that was a big spider. It was so big I thought I saw a small dog caught in its web. We are talking big. That spider could've kicked Charlotte's ass." - Hope Davis, THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS
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