 | Angela's Ashes Starring: Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle |
Alan Parker's film adaptation of Frank McCourt's literate and highly successful memoir of growing up in destitute poverty in Limerick, Ireland in the late 30's, is brilliantly photographed and beautifully performed by Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. Unfortunately, Parker is so focused on recreating the destitute poverty of McCourt's Ireland with razor edged accuracy, that the characters become secondary. The film evolves as restrained, tedious, and difficult to watch. Bad, horrible things happen to good people again and again without allowing the characters enough time to react. Parker seems to forget that Frank McCourt is a writer of wit and elegance and, in this film, his words are deeply missed. Only when he uses those words as an occasional narrative does the film begin to take on a life. Parker's failure to explore those words, visually, is a fatal flaw in the film. Michael Serenson impressively photographs the destitution, poverty and damp cold ambiance of Limerick, yet Parker totally misses developing the humanity of his characters within this environment. The viewer becomes emotionally detached as Parker allows the characters to become one-dimensional. Parker is satisfied with the father (Carlyle) being a nice guy but a hopeless alcoholic. He portrays the mother (Watson) as a despairing victim. A lesser actor would have little to do but look morose through the entire film. Only because of the immense talent of Watson and Carlyle do the actors overcome their one-dimensional roles and add layers of complexity to the characters. The perplexing chemistry between the mother and father is enhanced only by the efforts of the actors. Carlyle subtly portrays the father as a man haunted by past demons and unmentionable secrets who is unable to deal with his destitution. Watson adds a human nobility to her suffering. Parker not only fails to follow through with his cast, but at times he appears to be working against them. Even the three boys (Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, and Michael Legge), who play the young Frank at various stages in McCourt's life, make gallant attempts to add compassion and humanity to their roles. Parker steadfastly holds to the story and fades to black as soon as possible. Babies die, people starve, and despair reigns. After two hours of this, it all becomes ho-hum and you realize that nary a tear has been shed. Parker's film is bleak, without hope and evokes little emotion from the audience. Gone are the charm, wit and humanity of the book. Even with the stunning photography, imposing performances by Watson and Carlyle, and some very interesting juxtaposition with music and visuals, "Angela's Ashes," sadly, fails. Even the ending is a disappointment. Parker is too good of a director to use the time worn cliché of a young man beaming with hope as he gazes from his ship at the Statue of Liberty. Bring up the strings and fade to black. On second thought, perhaps it's the perfect ending for this film. |