Starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis. Written and Directed by Todd Haynes. It is the fall of 1957 in Hartford, Connecticut. The Whitakers live in a beautiful suburban home. Frank Whitaker (Quaid) is the regional manager of Magnatech and spends long hours working. Cathy (Moore) is the homemaker spends her day running errands, running the home and making it an oasis of perfection, with the help of their maid Sybil (Davis). Their daily existence is characterized by carefully observed family etiquette, social events, and an overall desire to keep up appearances and maintain their standing in the community. They have two pre-teen children who say gosh and geez when they're angry. Cathy's picture perfect world is about to change. She discovers her husband is not always out late working, catching him in the middle of a homosexual encounter. Reeling from the discovery and later the pressure her husband is under going to a psychiatrist to "cure" him of his affliction, she befriends her new gardener Raymond (Haysbert), a widowed black man whose father was the Whitaker's gardener before he died. They spend an innocent afternoon together, and the town's vicious gossip mill goes into full gear, in both the black and white communities. Her best friend, Eleanor Fine (Clarkson), at first defends her, but then is mystified at her desire to flaunt the community norms. Cathy and several characters are faced with making choices that could change their lives forever. Greatly influenced by the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the 1950's, and partially a remake of Sirk's 1955 All That Heaven Allows, Far From Heaven is a precisely made, beautifully rendered recreation of those type of films. Sirk specialized in the so-called "woman's pictures", the heavy tear-jerking melodrama that emphasize relationships. But mixed in was an almost hidden critique of the middle class values, the hypocricies, the emphasis on surface appearance, the stifling conformity to community values and the harsh treatment by supposedly good people and friends on those that break them. Haynes and his actors tackle the material totally without irony. At first, the style is hard to believe, each character acting in a totally stereotypical Norman Rockwellesque fashion. But as the movie progresses and we get used to the style, the events and characters become more believeable, and the events of the film more powerful and moving. Haynes is able to tackle topics such as inter-racial dating and homosexuality in a more direct way than ever could occur in the 1950's. The central theme, I think, of the film is stated in a conversation between Cathy and Raymond, where they ask why everyone always deals with the surface of things, and not what is behind the facade. Another theme is that while we might think we've come a long way from the 1950's, in many ways we have not come that far, not only in our attitudes towards homosexuality and inter-racial dating, but in how many of us too often deal in appearances and the "surface" of things. Despite being dismissed in the 1950's as potboilers and "weepies", Sirk's films were recognized for their visually arresting images and stark colour schemes. In Far From Heaven, the set design is spectacular - beautiful fall colours, dozens of immaculate vintage automobiles and gorgeous sets. And Haynes has the benefit of an exceptional cast able to sell the material. Look for Julianne Moore's Oscar nomination for her believable and sympathetic society housewife utterly devoted to keeping up appearances no matter what, hiding things from her friends, the local society (gossip) paper and even her husband. Cathy never allows herself to be totally real, so used to pretending that she refuses to acknowledge her real feelings, although she does so briefly and tentatively near the film's end. While Cathy could have easily degenerated into a caricature, Moore makes her a very sympathetic and believable person. Haysbert also fares well as the decent and bright widower who experiences as much hate from the black community in which he lives as Cathy faces in a more genteel, but no less hateful way, from the white community. Quaid is solid as the self-loathing homosexual who yearns to be "normal", but is having a hard time making the conversion. If you've ever said "they don't make movies like they used to", Far From Heaven is a faithful recreation of old style movie-making nobody does anymore. Film geeks may be the prime audience for this kind of art film and I myself wouldn't want a steady diet of this style of movie. Yet several members of the older-skewed sold-out audience that afternoon definitely appreciated the film, and with its critique of middle-class sensibilities and exceptional performances, Far From Heaven is a fine alternative to the current crop of horror flicks, overblown actioners and Rocky-style rapper vanity projects. If you would like to respond, please click the E-Mail Press Here To Go To The Review List Page