FAR FROM HEAVEN (3 outta 5 stars)
Interesting attempt at creating a "women's picture" in the exact style of the old tearjerkers from the '50s. What is most impressive is that this movie is able to copy that old style without becoming a parody. The performances and the script perfectly convey subject matter (racially mixed romance, homosexuality) that would never have been allowed in a '50s movie. Julianne Moore is a happy wife and mother whose life begins to fall apart when a) she discovers that her husband is having a homosexual love affair and b) she begins to have warm feelings towards their "colored" gardener. Dennis Quaid has one of his best roles in recent years, playing the husband... torn between his duty as a "man" and his inner longing. Dennis Haysbert is also great as the gardener... playing the sort of role that Sydney Poitier would have played in the '50s if Hollywood would have allowed it.
Interesting attempt at creating a "women's picture" in the exact style of the old tearjerkers from the '50s. What is most impressive is that this movie is able to copy that old style without becoming a parody. The performances and the script perfectly convey subject matter (racially mixed romance, homosexuality) that would never have been allowed in a '50s movie. Julianne Moore is a happy wife and mother whose life begins to fall apart when a) she discovers that her husband is having a homosexual love affair and b) she begins to have warm feelings towards their "colored" gardener. Dennis Quaid has one of his best roles in recent years, playing the husband... torn between his duty as a "man" and his inner longing. Dennis Haysbert is also great as the gardener... playing the sort of role that Sydney Poitier would have played in the '50s if Hollywood would have allowed it.