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Savage Grace fails to catch fire as this tale of class
differences, social climbing, illicit affairs, incest and murder creates an
emotional wall between the characters and the audience.
Story
Based on an award winning book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson, Savage
Grace is a true story of a societal poseur, Barbara Daly (Julianne Moore), who
climbs her way into a different class by marrying Brookes Baekeland (Stephen
Dillane), heir to a plastics fortune. Soon the birth of their only child Tony
turns their union upside down as the boy becomes uncommonly close with his
mother and remains a failure in his father’s eyes. As the story spans years,
ranging from 1946 to 1972, dad disappears into his own world of work and affairs
while Barbara becomes increasingly lonely, desperate and clingy--entering into
an incestuous tryst with her now grown son (Eddie Redmayne), a homosexual. The
film details her pathetic attempts at presenting herself as something she’s not
as she carries on the unnatural relationship-- which eventually leads to tragic
consequences.
Acting
There is no question Julianne Moore is perhaps the most courageous, certainly
most daring actress of her generation. Again, in Savage Grace, she proves
herself willing to do anything and go further than most. Unfortunately, the
stilted dialogue and tone of the piece don’t do her any favors. We never get the
feeling we’re watching real life unfold as most of these characters speak like
they are in a stage production. Nevertheless, Moore--with her flaming red hair
and open sexuality--is still a treat to watch. Her Barbara is sensual, dangerous
and unpredictable. British thesp Dillane (HBO’s John Adams) proves again he can
do just about anything and rises above the melodramatic script--mostly in the
film’s first half. Redmayne’s Tony--a twisted mama’s boy trying to carve out his
own identity--is rather hopeless, and the actor struggles to make us empathize
with him. Hugh Dancy turns up as Simon, a gay friend of the family, who winds up
in a threesome with mother and son.
Direction
Director Tom Kalin does no favors for his actors by creating a fake atmosphere
around them. Even though Savage Grace is shot on a number of glamorous worldwide
locations, it feels small and claustrophobic. Kalin--like his talented
cast--seems a little defeated by screenwriter Howard A. Rodman’s dreary and
soapy script, heavy with bloated dialogue and far-fetched situations. Writer and
director seem to have taken a number of liberties with the real life story and
the book the film is based on, instead “interpreting” the characters actions
from photographs taken at the time. Unfortunately, their technique leaves the
audience out of the loop. Rarely has a movie, particularly one with the gifted
Moore, seemed so distant and uninvolving. Graphic sexual scenes in the unrated
film seem only there to shock, not enlighten and by the end we know little more
about the Baekeland saga than we did going in.
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