Cider House Rules Reviewed

ROVIN' AND RAVIN' WITH MIKE

The Cider House Rules - Broken!

Following its Academy Award ® nomination, The Cider House Rules has reopened with an advertising blitz that leaves you thinking that you are going to see a cute and cuddly film about cute and cuddly orphans that the whole cute and cuddly family will enjoy. Be warned, however, that the film is stained with blood and vomit, one of the main characters is an drug-addicted abortionist, and the plot involves incest, murder, paralysis, addiction, and an overdose that, a nurse assures one of the characters, was not intentional. Lying is as basic a part of the story of this film as of the film Gray Owl.

The film is set during World War II in incredibly photogenic locales in Maine--a rambling old orphanage, an apple orchard, and a lobsterman's pier. The story centers on the coming of age of one of the orphans, Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), whom the director, Dr. Larch (Michael Caine), grooms to be his successor, without benefit of medical school. Women with unwanted pregnancies come to the orphanage, either to have their babies delivered and brought up in the institution or to have abortions, which were illegal at the time of the story.

Since Homer refuses to perform abortions, and since Dr. Larch feels that he is doing good by sparing the young women the back alley abortions that were their only other options, the first thirty minutes or so of the film are dominated by a discussion of abortion. Near the end of the film, Homer's final step into manhood involves his offer to perform an abortion for a young woman whose father is the father of her child. Homer leaves the orphanage to see the world, at least to see the ocean (and lobsters) for the first time. He ends up at the apple orchard belonging to the family of a new friend, Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd), who returns to war, leaving Homer in the appleyard (shades of Picnic at Hanging Rock) with Wally's girlfriend Candy (Charlize Theron), who is recovering from an abortion.

The most fascinating moments of the film take place in the "cider house," where Homer lives and works together with a group of migrant workers headed by Mr. Rose (Delroy Lindo) and his daughter Rose Rose (singer Erykah Badu, without her trademark skyscraper 'do). The rules are a list of absurd don'ts that no one has ever paid any attention to, because no one in the cider house could read until Homer arrives. There is a rather pointed explanation of the significance of those rules, that people have the freedom and the responsibility to make up their own rules.

Rose Rose realizes, even before Homer himself does, that things are starting to happen between him and Candy. Meanwhile, other things are happening--I don't want to spoil the plot for you--and Homer, who has resisted the medical career for which Dr. Larch has groomed him, finally accepts not only his chance to "be of use" but also the forged documents which will make his career possible.

If you remember The World According to Garp or Hotel New Hampshire, either on paper or on film, you know that John Irving does not so much spin a tale as unwind it. There are all kinds of stories and characters tangled up in the whole mess. Director Lasse Hallström (best known, perhaps, for another story of growing up, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) seems to have trouble keeping up with everything. While there is much to like about this film, there are some serious problems.

Dr. Larch and Mr. Rose come across in many dimensions, thanks to some amazing performances. Perhaps Michael Caine has benefited from aging. But, the film does not quite know what to do with these characters. Does Dr. Larch dose himself with ether at night because he has some unstated problems with performing abortions? What are we supposed to think about Mr. Rose, whom Delroy Lindo brings to powerful life?

The problem with the characterization of Homer is that actor Tobey Maguire does not give us enough to feel or care about. He is at his best in the film's worst moments, when it is getting all weak about its celluloid knees over the frisky frolicking of young lovers Homer and Candy. There is no real commitment or passion in his walk-through performance. I don’t know why, but I kept wondering how different the film would have been with Jake Gyllenhaal, who played another Homer in October Sky.

In fact the whole film, full of nostalgic warmth rather than the chill of historical distance, embroidering simple lessons about being of use with and use for other people, tries to have things both ways. In many ways, it is like The Green Mile, a gentle film with violent content that glosses over ethical and political concerns to plant itself firmly in the mainstream. Is this commercial manipulation or artistic mediation? At least, it is a good example of why I have resisted the suggestion of awarding films one to four peanuts instead of stars. Things are so messy with this film that it would need a smear of peanut butter.

Also like The Green Mile, it is a film that very much reminds me of the works of Charles Dickens. In this film, the connection is emphasized, with David Copperfield being the bed-time story of choice. Perhaps like the orphans who try to look especially adorable when visitors come, perhaps like Candy, who is "not good at being alone," we have to find our places, in the cider house or the orphanage or whatever image is most appropriate to our lives.

Now, as you browse through Rovin' and Ravin', you can read reviews of all five films nominated for the Academy Award ® for Best Picture of 1999. So, I think that I shall this week leave you with links to my reviews for the other four films (in alphabetical order), together with my usual rules, that you keep your feet dry and your hearts full of noble thoughts.

American Beauty The Green Mile

The Insider The Sixth Sense