Cradle Will Rock Review
by "Mac VerStandig" (critic AT moviereviews DOT org)February 8th, 2000
Cradle Will Rock
4 Stars (Out of 4)
Reviewed by Mac VerStandig
[email protected]
http://www.moviereviews.org
February 7, 2000
--- A copy of this review can be found at http://www.moviereviews.org/cradle_will_rock.htm ---
There are some simple rules to making a feature film. They include: 1) Try to avoid venturing over the two-hour mark. 2) Don't rip the plot out of a history textbook. 3) Use a lead actor.
Duh!
Cradle Will Rock violates all three of those rules. The work is over two hours long, rips its plot out of the Great Depression chapter in textbooks and uses nearly 15 supporting actors in lieu of a lead role.
The odds of a movie with the aforementioned infractions of common practice being decent are about the same as a little Italian man who speaks fractured English beating out Tom Hanks for Best Actor. Well, Benigni not only won the honor but literally walked on Steven Spielberg in doing so. Cradle Will Rock not only gets away with the no-nos, but achieves absolute brilliance in the process.
It is the 1930's and the Great Depression has divided American into the minority wealthy and the majority poor. In an attempt to provide cheap entertainment for the masses and save an institution known as Broadway, the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) is born. The mission is to provide talented, trained and experienced actors and crew members with jobs.
Marc Blizenstein (Hank Azaria), with the aid of sleepless hallucinations, pens a show titled Cradle Will Rock. Orson Welles (Angus Macfadyen) directs the piece after Hallie Flanagan (Cherry Jones), the director of FTP, decides to produce it. Cast members include a poor but pride-filled actor (John Torturro) and a homeless street singer who catches a break (Emily Watson).
There is a problem with Cradle Will Rock, however. It is pro-union. Lest we forget that Martin Dies is leading a pre-McCarthy committee investigating possible incidents of communism and FTP is already under examination in the most notorious witch-hunt in American history.
The film's suporting character overdose is actually countered by the history book issue; since the actors are wonderful playing people we are familiar with, much of the movie works itself out. Azaria's grasp on Blitzstein is marvelous, John Cusack's take of Nelson Rockefeller is extremely noteworthy, Ruben Blades' Diego Rivera is fabulous and, most impressively, Bill Murray plays Tommy Crickshaw in a convincing and oftentimes chilling manner.
Another interesting actor in the cast is Philip Baker Hall. The veteran actor seems to have struck gold this year, appearing not only in this fine film but The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Insider and Magnolia as well. It is conceivable that he could appear in three, if not four, of the 1999 Best Picture nominates films.
If all this sounds semi-chaotic, that's probably because it is. Keeping track of all the film's characters, their issues and the politics is indeed challenging. However, what is being shown in the movie is a time of equally dense chaos and uncertainty. Director Tim Robbins should be credited, not blamed, for properly portraying the realistic setting of his subject matter.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
