GOING ALL THE WAY
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.0 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 10/3/97 (limited) Running Length: 1:43 MPAA Classification: R (Sexual situations, nudity, profanity, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Jeremy Davies, Ben Affleck, Amy Locane, Rachel Weisz, Rose McGowan, Jill Clayburgh, Lesley Ann Warren Director: Mark Pellington Producers: Tom Gorai, Sigurjon Sighvatsson Screenplay: Dan Wakefield based on his novel Cinematography: Bobby Bukowski Music: tomandandy U.S. Distributor: Gramercy Pictures
GOING ALL THE WAY, based on Dan Wakefield's 1970 bestselling novel of the same name, is a coming of age story with characters who are a little older than is the norm for this genre. While most stories about the rituals of entering adulthood are set in high schools, GOING ALL THE WAY looks at two twentysomething men who, having served during the Korean War, are fresh out of the army and trying to find their place in the world. And, since the movie is set in 1954, it addresses the roles of religion and sex in the rites of passage -- this is, after all, an era when the latter was taboo and the former was de rigueur.
Sonny (Jeremy Davies) and Gunner (Ben Affleck) are an unusual pair of close friends. Although both attended the same high school and each joined the army after graduation, that's where the similarity ends. Sonny is a shy, alienated young man who comes from a deeply conservative family and who gets tongue-tied around pretty girls. His war experience was limited to guarding the home front from Kansas City. Gunner, on the other hand, is an ex-jock who spent time in Korea and Japan. He's popular, well-liked, and can get any girl he wants. His mother (Lesley Ann Warren), a swinging bachelorette, treats him more like a boyfriend than a son. Yet, one day while talking, Sonny and Gunner realize that, despite the differences in their personalities and backgrounds, they have very similar concerns and questions about life, love, and the future. The two become inseparable, but, although their friendship is real, it is not a match of equals. The brash and confident Gunner is the leader and Sonny is always the follower.
Women are, of course, the unsolved (and perhaps unsolvable) mystery. Gunner falls for a sexy art student named Marty (Rachel Weisz, sporting an unbelievably irritating faux American accent), while Sonny is looking for a way out of a dead-end relationship with his high school sweetheart, the loyal-but-uninteresting Buddy (Amy Locane). He finds his escape in Gale (Rose McGowan), but learns the hard way that dream girls are sometimes better left in dreams.
Kurt Vonnegut once described Dan Wakefield's novel, GOING ALL THE WAY, as "the Midwestern CATCHER IN THE RYE," and, while the film doesn't have quite the depth one might expect from a story tagged with that appellation, it's easy to see why Vonnegut made the comparison. GOING ALL THE WAY deals believably with the tribulations of new adulthood and the youthful need to break free in a world that seeks to repress. Many male viewers, regardless of the era they grew up in, will see bits and pieces of themselves in Sonny and Gunner.
The movie, adapted by Wakefield and directed by MTV alum and first time feature filmmaker Mark Pellington, is at times uneven. GOING ALL THE WAY contains elements of comedy ranging from subtle humor to blatant satire (most of the latter involve a scathing view of religion and conservatism in the '50s). Not all of these blend seamlessly with the movie's more dramatic elements, and several of the comic-to-serious transitions are jarring (such as the tragedy that follows closely upon Sonny's surreal trip into a fundamentalist church where he asks directions to a whore house).
The women in the film function mostly as plot devices and attractive decorations. None of them have any personality or depth. Jill Clayburgh and Lesley Ann Warren , as Sonny and Gunner's mothers, respectively, are stereotypes. They are used to provide humor and emphasize the differences and, perhaps surprisingly, the similarities between religious conservatism and progressive liberalism. The younger actresses -- Rachel Weisz (SWEPT FROM THE SEA), Amy Locane (CARRIED AWAY), and Rose McGowan (SCREAM) -- are on hand primarily to act as catalysts and to look pretty, whether clothed or topless.
Fortunately, the two leads are well-developed and ably portrayed. Ben Affleck (CHASING AMY) has the blend of charm and bravado necessary to bring Gunner to life. His co-star, Jeremy Davies (who can also be seen in THE LOCUSTS), plays a character not unlike the one he essayed in SPANKING THE MONKEY. Davies has an aptitude for fleshing out insecure individuals who have been dealt a raw hand by fate, and, as a result, are forever trapped. The rapport established between Affleck and Davies is effective -- it's not difficult to accept that these two mismatched young men have become fast friends.
Because of the nature of the material, GOING ALL THE WAY will probably appeal more to males than females, although, as with any well- constructed motion picture, there's nothing to prevent a woman from enjoying it. However, while the novel may have been an important and influential work of literature, the motion picture adaptation doesn't ascend to the same lofty heights. GOING ALL THE WAY is a pleasant way to spend one-hundred minutes, and the characters are fashioned with enough detail for us to care about them, but this is in no way a seminal or transforming movie. The only thing that sets it apart from so many forgettable period piece coming-of-age stories is that it has been put together with a degree of care and skill.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net
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