Human Stain Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)October 10th, 2003
THE HUMAN STAIN
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Esteemed literary professor Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins, "Red Dragon") loses his position over a politically correct misinterpretation of an offhand remark. He's convinced the university is also responsible for the death of his beloved wife, who died from stress-related causes shortly thereafter. Coleman invites further scandal when he begins an affair with university janitor Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman, "The Hours"), a troubled young woman with a dangerous ex, Vietnam vet Lester (Ed Harris, "The Hours"). Their story is recounted by Coleman's late-met friend, author Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise, "The Green Mile"), in Nicholas Meyer's ("Fatal Attraction") adaptation of the Philip Roth novel "The Human Stain."
Director Robert Benton ("Twilight") paints himself into a corner with miscast leads and a story that's reveal is not linked to the central affair of the present. Sir Anthony Hopkins acquits himself well in a difficult-to-cast role, but Benton leaves the refined Kidman adrift as Coleman's white trash lover.
Silk knocks on the reclusive Zuckerman's door and a quiet friendship of conversation and chess begins. Zuckerman, knowing the Farleys' history as does the entire town, urges restraint when Coleman tells him of his new young lover, but Silk is swept away by the vigor Faunia and some Viagra have restored to him. (In the film's best scene, Hopkins celebrates by engaging Sinise in a dance to "Cheek to Cheek," a scenario that could have been ridiculous if not for Hopkins' perfectly exaggerated dance moves paired with Sinise's amused and conquered reluctance.)
We're shown how Coleman meets Faunia at the post office, then finds her stranded on the way to a third job at a local dairy. Offering her a ride, he's astonished when she invites him in. He says no, but changes his mind and enters the building to find her upstairs waiting for him in reclining nudity.
Read no further if you wish to keep Coleman's secret and have not yet seen the film.
In flashback-within-flashback, we learn that the young Coleman (Wentworth Miller, "Underworld") had a boxing future discouraged by his father, a dining car waiter who propelled his children towards higher education. Coleman has lighter skin than the rest of his Black family and passes himself and his tightly coiled hair off as Jewish. He's adored by first love Steena Paulsson (Jacinda Barrett, "Urban Legends: Final Cut"), a beautiful blonde midwesterner of Swedish background. As Coleman is never presented as delusional, a scene where he takes Steena home to meet his mother (Anna Deavere Smith, "The American President") without ever having told her the truth is utterly impossible to believe. He loses Steena and never tells his eventual wife the truth, remaining cut off from his family.
Returning to the present, Coleman's further troubles begin when Faunia reveals her volatile nature. She equates sex with betrayal and feels guilt over the accidental loss of her two children in a fire. Ex-husband Lester wants no other man to have what he cannot making Coleman and Faunia's fate inevitable. Near their ends, Coleman attempts to tell Faunia his secret, which Nathan learns after the fact from Coleman's sister.
Hopkins is as convincing in the role as the British actor can possibly be, but besides a matchup of eye color, he bears little resemblance to even the white actor who plays his younger self. Still, he imparts Silk with wry regret and renewed potency without ever making Coleman appear foolish. Hopkins gets at Coleman's heart when he defends Faunia to Nathan, convincing with 'She's not my first love, not my great love, but certainly my last love.ī Kidman, however, is unrealistic and overly dramatic as the doomed Faunia. Her attempt to give her voice the gravel of a cigarette habit is actorly and a cheesy perm is not enough to obscure her refinement. Faunia's huge mood swings aren't given enough context to keep Kidman's performance from splintering and Benton's judgement was sorely lacking in retaining a scene where Kidman talks to a caged crow ('We were made for each other - marry me'). Harris is too low key in a role that calls for barely contained rage. Sinise is serviceable as Coleman's friend and narrator.
Production designer David Gropman's ("The Shipping News") university town and its environs evoke a Stephen King adaptation. Rachel Portmanīs score is one of the film's biggest assets.
"The Human Stain" shouldn't leave an irrevocable blotch on anyone's career, but the film itself is a serious misfire.
C-
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