Human Stain Review
by Richard A. Zwelling (razwee AT yahoo DOT com)November 24th, 2003
THE HUMAN STAIN
** ½ (out of ****)
a film review by
Richard A. Zwelling
Based on the Philip Roth novel of same title, The Human Stain features a story whose potential is abundantly clear, but unfortunately is not easily translatable to the screen. Despite featuring solid (but not superlative) performances, and a host of intriguing ideas, the cinematic result is uneven, only mildly engaging, and often times confusing. Certainly, the story's heavy use of symbolism is of a type that seems more at home on paper than on celluloid. To go into further discussion would spoil the film for those who still wish to see it.
Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) is a classics professor who has left his highly-esteemed post due to an injustice he has suffered at the hands of the very university he helped to put on a pedestal. We do not know why, but something about this incident gnaws at him and seems to throw his sense of stability askew. We sense inner demons surfacing that have been dormant for many years.
He eventually becomes involved with a much younger woman named Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman) who also holds dark secrets that fester within her, despite her cool and composed exterior. As they spend more time together and develop stronger feelings for each other, the secrets become harder to conceal, and the result of their wounds finally coming to the surface is agony, self-loathing, and shame. But will these secrets necessarily change each one's perceptions of the other? And just what are these secrets really?
The scenes between Hopkins and Kidman (which are of prime importance) are not spectacular, but are well-executed and believable. Then again, it is hard for either of them to give a sub-par performance. Gary Sinise and Ed Harris provide nice performances, but their characters do no more than linger in the background.
There are several diverse themes that this film tries to tackle, but again, this particular story seemed much more at home in a novel. Will The Human Stain generate any Oscar nominations? My answer is, I doubt it. While Hopkins and Kidman get under the skin of their characters well, there is no real opportunity for a truly notable performance. A few scenes demand believable effusion of emotion, but they are not of stellar material.
The two great actors do what they can, however, and it should be noted that the film's final few scenes are unexpectedly poignant and unnervingly thought-provoking.
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