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Review:
 WASPs
suffering in New England has been the stuff of independent cinema
for years. It's not pretty, and it's not always interesting, but
it can lead to some really good performances.
Those performances are to be found in this otherwise turgid
bout of navel gazing. It's been done so many times before in the
world of independent cinema that it's become a cliché, and if it
wasn't for the acting, this would be one of the most forgettable
films of the decade.
Okay, the gist: We're in a medium sized town on the coast of
Maine, where Frank Fowler(Nick Stahl), an architecture student, is
fishing for lobsters during his summer break. We first meet him
and his physician father Matt(Tom Wilkinson) in the latter's back
yard, where Frank's girlfriend Natalie's(Marisa Tomei) son is
having a birthday party of sorts. Natalie and Frank seem to have a
good relationship, while that between her and Frank's mother
Ruth(Sissy Spacek).
The reason is clear to see, she's far older than he is, and her
soon-to-be ex-husband Richard(William Mapother) is still hanging
around. Clearly, Richard is a villain, or else Natalie and the
children(Camden Munson and Christopher Adams) would cringe every
time he shows up. Clear enough, we know there's tragedy brewing.
 Mom wants
Frank to break up with Natalie, and he says that he will, while he
tells Natalie the opposite. Meanwhile Frank and Richard snarl at
each other. It's all rather tedious as Dad brings Frank along to
play poker with his pals(Justin Ashforth, William Wise and Kevin
Chapman). Will this tedium ever end? Well, it does, for a while...
As this is an American film, we've got to have blood and gore,
and the hoped for happens, and then we get more tedium as Mom and
Dad mourn the loss of a son. Lots of silence and longing glances
while Richard gets out on bail. More slow burns as Spacek and
Wilkinson look at each other. Then revenge.
Tom Wilkinson's been in lots of British productions. Some of
them have been seen on Masterpiece theater. He's always there when
they need a British general in films like "The Patriot" and
others. In this he manages to spew out a decent New England accent
and pretty much shoulders the entire movie by himself. A mighty
feat indeed, but it's still not enough to wake you up. Pass this
one by.
Eric Lurio
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