Myth of Fingerprints, The (1997)

reviewed by
Scott Renshaw


THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS (Sony Classics) Starring: Noah Wyle, Julianne Moore, Blythe Danner, Roy Scheider, Michael Vartan, Hope Davis, Brian Kerwin, Laurel Holloman, Arija Bareikis. Screenplay: Bart Freundlich. Producers: Mary Jane Skalski, Tim Ferrell and Bart Freundlich. Director: Bart Freundlich. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, sexual situations, drug use) Running Time: 90 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.

THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS is a subtle, restrained film in a genre crying out for a little subtlety and restraint. The familiar setting is the Thanksgiving gathering of an New England family; the issue at hand is how the children ended up variously damaged by their upbringing. Yet THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS isn't about raised voices, cathartic confrontations or healing embraces. Over the space of three days, we simply observe: emotionally wounded Warren (Noah Wyle) still coping with the end of a relationship three years earlier; bitter Mia (Julianne Moore) lashing out at every available target; commitment-shy Jake (Michael Vartan) trying to be in love with his effervescent girlfriend Margaret (Hope Davis); cheerful younger sister Leigh (Laurel Holloman) somehow emerging whole, healthy and happy; Mom (Blythe Danner) trying to understand everyone; Dad (Roy Scheider) not trying at all.

Many viewers might find THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS rather inconsequential in its paucity of fireworks and dirty laundry. It has become so commonplace for such stories to center on Big Revelations -- who confesses to being gay, who turns out to be a child molester, who's been unfaithful to whom (or _with_ whom) -- that it's almost disappointing when they're absent. Neither are there many resolutions, with some relationships just as unstable at the fade-out as they were at the fade-in. Bart Freundlich's script is about relatively mundane familial discord, but it's expertly observed mundanity.

If there is one major stumbling block in THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS, it's the lack of sufficient time to do justice to its broad canvas. Freundlich has so many characters and so many relationships to cover that he inevitably short-changes some of them, perhaps even all of them. He's fortunate that he has such a stellar cast to fill in the spaces, particularly Moore and Davis. There is an ease to the way the characters interact, even in their uneasiness, which makes it easy to get caught up in the simple tensions. The confidence with which Freundlich directs THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS practically forces you to concede that this story matters. To paraphrase Tolstoy, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique way. This one happens to be unhappy quietly, but its an unhappiness worth exploring.

     On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 mything persons:  7.

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