Reviews

This cute little novel, some of which happens in Roseburg, OR, my home town, was Kevin Costner-ized into an overblown "epic" film (much in the manner of Robin Williams-izing your more "dramatic" film and/or the last few minutes of any episode of Mork and Mindy, but that's another rant for another time).

Oregon is beautiful, both in the film and in real life. Olivia Williams is quite beautiful, as well. Tom Petty is hilarious in a minor role. Will Patton is appropriately vile. I understand the making of the film injected much needed money into the local economy (not here, of course, but rather in trendy Bend, on the other side of the mountains). This is the good news.

The bad news is much worse. First off, it's way long, just short of three hours. It takes less time to read the book. Second, the sound track by James Newton Howard (had to check, thought it might be John Williams on a bad day) is cliched and manipulative (sort of like the script). I am watching it now on TNT, even as I type this, the moment is coming (what, about 2/3 of the way through) when Costner rides past the little boy, then turns around (spoiler: the moment will be immortalized later). Oh, Morning In America music is playing, Costner rides by in slow mo .... Be still my heart, be calm my gut.

Anyhow, finally, just read the book, if you can get it. (Our public library has two copies, but that's probably because Roseburg is mentioned.) The plot in the book is more intricate and deals much more deeply with the issue of lying to keep up hope -- which is, after all, what the movie is about. Kevin Costner seems to have tried to make the book into a movie about building it and they will come, which is not quite the same thing.

Scary ... but not as scary as Sixth Sense, The Shining, The Dead Zone or bunches of other films that feature communication with some other psychic dimension.

Well made (minor continuity problems with Bacon's facial hair, but I quibble) ... nice atmospherics of working class CHI, nice camera work and special effects which contribute well without saying "look at me."

Predictable ... instead of a descent into madness by the father, or a bonding of the father and son with similar gifts, or, well, I don't know what, we end up with the last 20 minutes remarkably like a Halloween slasher movie, complete with "Oh, how lucky that minor character wasn't really dead, like I thought."

Far fetched ... Why isn't Kevin Bacon's wife more freaked out over the fact that he is losing/has lost his job? Why doesn't someone call the police when Kevin Bacon starts digging up his yard and trashing his home (thanks to another reviewer for comparing it to the similar sequence in Close Encounters)? Why isn't Kevin Bacon searching around for someone to prescribe him antipsychotic medication -- or, alternately, dosing himself liberally with beer, rather than aspirin? Why aren't the police more suspicious when Kevin Bacon is obviously lying when he says he has never seen the young woman who disappeared? Why, if the woman who has disappeared is so eager to be avenged, does she let him dig up the whole yard and basement?

On the plus side, the acting is fine. I watched about 20% of it through my fingers. And I saw it at before 6:00 p.m. prices.