LONDON -- Despite old- fashioned charm and a batch of fine central performances, this adaptation of Noel Coward's 1950s play doesn't quite hit the mark. It is, of course, intriguing to see Julie Andrews back on the big screen, but there is little to indicate she will make a major impact at the boxoffice.
The film opened in the United Kingdom to lukewarm critical response, and it seems destined for a quick exit from the West End. "Relative Values" will probably live a stronger life on video and television.
The project marks the sophomore film for director Eric Styles, whose debut effort, "Dreaming of Joseph Lees", was well-received. His first film was shot on the Isle of Man -- a small island in the Irish Sea between the United Kingdom and Ireland that offers attractive tax breaks -- and here he returns to an impressive 11th century mansion on the island to help re-create postwar Britain.
The story is a series of comic complications set against the backdrop of a country addressing the contradictions of class values in the social turmoil after World War II.
The story starts in the south of France in 1954, where Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood (Edward Atterton), is busy romancing beautiful Hollywood star Miranda Frayle (Jeanne Tripplehorn), unaware that the announcement of their betrothal causes concern to his mother, Felicity, the Countess of Marshwood (Julie Andrews), and Don Lucas (William Baldwin), a Hollywood star and Miranda's former lover.
Back at the family's stately British home, it is revealed that Felicity's maid Moxie (Sophie Thompson) is actually the long-lost sister of Miranda, who left the family 20 years earlier to seek fame in Tinseltown. The family -- with the aid of butler Crestwell (the excellent Stephen Fry) -- sets about concocting a story whereby they can change Moxie's image. But Moxie is distraught when her sister fails to recognize her, and tells terrible lies about her childhood.
Throw into the pot the arrival of a drunken Don Lucas, which allows the film to resolve the various relationships and leave poor old Nigel to wonder what on earth he is going to do. How could he possibly marry his mother's maid's sister? As chaos ensues, the postwar class system is revealed.
Julie Andrews is impressive as the upper-class mother trying to prevent her rather dim son from making a marital mistake. But there is a lingering feeling that she has so much more to offer if only the right movie role would come along. Tripplehorn and Baldwin are in good form as the awful movie stars, while best of all is Fry as the urbane butler (elegantly reprising the Jeeves character he played on British television).
There is much to enjoy in "Relative Values" -- we are talking about a film based on a play by the wonderful Noel Coward, after all -- but there is just not enough quality in all departments to give the film the gloss it properly deserves.
RELATIVE VALUES
Alliance Atlantis
Midsummer Films
in association with
the Isle of Man Film Commission
Producer: Chris Mulligan
Director: Eric Styles
Executive producers: Steve Christian, Chris Harris
Screenwriters/associate producers: Paul Rattigan, Michael Walker
Based on the play by: Noel Coward
Director of photography: Jimmy Dibling
Editors: Caroline Limmer, Ian Seymour
Costume designer: Nic Ede
Production designer: Humphrey Jaeger
Music: John Debney
Color/stereo
Cast:
Felicity: Julie Andrews
Moxie: Sophie Thompson
Nigel: Edward Atterton
Miranda: Jeanne Tripplehorn
Don Lucas: William Baldwin
Peter: Colin Firth
Crestwell: Stephen Fry
Alice: Anwen Carlisle
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The film opened in the United Kingdom to lukewarm critical response, and it seems destined for a quick exit from the West End. "Relative Values" will probably live a stronger life on video and television.
The project marks the sophomore film for director Eric Styles, whose debut effort, "Dreaming of Joseph Lees", was well-received. His first film was shot on the Isle of Man -- a small island in the Irish Sea between the United Kingdom and Ireland that offers attractive tax breaks -- and here he returns to an impressive 11th century mansion on the island to help re-create postwar Britain.
The story is a series of comic complications set against the backdrop of a country addressing the contradictions of class values in the social turmoil after World War II.
The story starts in the south of France in 1954, where Nigel, the Earl of Marshwood (Edward Atterton), is busy romancing beautiful Hollywood star Miranda Frayle (Jeanne Tripplehorn), unaware that the announcement of their betrothal causes concern to his mother, Felicity, the Countess of Marshwood (Julie Andrews), and Don Lucas (William Baldwin), a Hollywood star and Miranda's former lover.
Back at the family's stately British home, it is revealed that Felicity's maid Moxie (Sophie Thompson) is actually the long-lost sister of Miranda, who left the family 20 years earlier to seek fame in Tinseltown. The family -- with the aid of butler Crestwell (the excellent Stephen Fry) -- sets about concocting a story whereby they can change Moxie's image. But Moxie is distraught when her sister fails to recognize her, and tells terrible lies about her childhood.
Throw into the pot the arrival of a drunken Don Lucas, which allows the film to resolve the various relationships and leave poor old Nigel to wonder what on earth he is going to do. How could he possibly marry his mother's maid's sister? As chaos ensues, the postwar class system is revealed.
Julie Andrews is impressive as the upper-class mother trying to prevent her rather dim son from making a marital mistake. But there is a lingering feeling that she has so much more to offer if only the right movie role would come along. Tripplehorn and Baldwin are in good form as the awful movie stars, while best of all is Fry as the urbane butler (elegantly reprising the Jeeves character he played on British television).
There is much to enjoy in "Relative Values" -- we are talking about a film based on a play by the wonderful Noel Coward, after all -- but there is just not enough quality in all departments to give the film the gloss it properly deserves.
RELATIVE VALUES
Alliance Atlantis
Midsummer Films
in association with
the Isle of Man Film Commission
Producer: Chris Mulligan
Director: Eric Styles
Executive producers: Steve Christian, Chris Harris
Screenwriters/associate producers: Paul Rattigan, Michael Walker
Based on the play by: Noel Coward
Director of photography: Jimmy Dibling
Editors: Caroline Limmer, Ian Seymour
Costume designer: Nic Ede
Production designer: Humphrey Jaeger
Music: John Debney
Color/stereo
Cast:
Felicity: Julie Andrews
Moxie: Sophie Thompson
Nigel: Edward Atterton
Miranda: Jeanne Tripplehorn
Don Lucas: William Baldwin
Peter: Colin Firth
Crestwell: Stephen Fry
Alice: Anwen Carlisle
Running time -- 89 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/12/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer-director John Huddles is clearly working out psychological issues in his debut feature, "Far Harbor", which opened exclusively Friday at New York's Quad Cinema.
In this tale of a bunch of Generation X-ers hanging during a weekend marked by emotional confrontations, the central character is a filmmaker filled with bitter resentment at the mega-director whose 120-foot yacht berthed in the town's harbor is a visual symbol of unattainable success. This unseen figure is referred to as "Mr. Spreckman", a name that was used after Steven Spielberg expressed his displeasure over the film's original title, "Mr. Spielberg's Boat".
The boat reminds the bitter young English filmmaker Frick (Edward Atterton) of his own recent failures in the movie business. He finds his friends little comfort. They include: Ellie (Jennifer Connelly), a young woman of fragile emotional stability; her husband Ry (Jim True), and her tough-talking, protective sister, Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden); Bradley (Dan Futterman), a successful New York surgeon, and his younger girlfriend Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana's daughter); Jordan (George Newbern), an heir to a dairy farm fortune; and his free-spirited friend Trey (Andrew Lauren, Ralph's son).
Feel-good emotions are little evident in this modern-day "Big Chill"; these friends are more likely to attack than comfort each other. Frick, the central character, is a particularly unpleasant creation, a thoroughly repugnant sort who uses hostility as a way to counter his own insecurities. The film is an endless cycle of nasty comments, veiled insults and bitter recriminations, with a minimum of comic relief.
The chief virtue of this laborious effort is the outstanding ensemble cast of future stars. Some -- such as Connelly, Futterman ("The Birdcage") and Harden -- already have extensive film credits but haven't yet hit the right break. Others are newcomers; Ross is just as beautiful as her mother and has an impressive naturalness in front of the camera. And Atterton, a British stage actor, manages the difficult feat of making the obnoxious Frick a compelling character.
FAR HARBOR
Castle Hill Prods.
Director-screenplay John Huddles
Producer Gigi De Pourtales Davis
Executive producers John Huddles,
Gary Huddles, John Wolstenholme
Co-producer Laura Barnett
Director of photography Tami Reiker
Editors Wilton Henderson, Margaret Guinee,
Janice Keuhnelian
Cast:
Frick Edward Atterton
Ellie Jennifer Connelly
Brad Dan Futterman
Arabella Marcia Gay Harden
Trey Andrew Lauren
Jordan George Newbern
Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross
Ryland Jim True
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In this tale of a bunch of Generation X-ers hanging during a weekend marked by emotional confrontations, the central character is a filmmaker filled with bitter resentment at the mega-director whose 120-foot yacht berthed in the town's harbor is a visual symbol of unattainable success. This unseen figure is referred to as "Mr. Spreckman", a name that was used after Steven Spielberg expressed his displeasure over the film's original title, "Mr. Spielberg's Boat".
The boat reminds the bitter young English filmmaker Frick (Edward Atterton) of his own recent failures in the movie business. He finds his friends little comfort. They include: Ellie (Jennifer Connelly), a young woman of fragile emotional stability; her husband Ry (Jim True), and her tough-talking, protective sister, Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden); Bradley (Dan Futterman), a successful New York surgeon, and his younger girlfriend Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana's daughter); Jordan (George Newbern), an heir to a dairy farm fortune; and his free-spirited friend Trey (Andrew Lauren, Ralph's son).
Feel-good emotions are little evident in this modern-day "Big Chill"; these friends are more likely to attack than comfort each other. Frick, the central character, is a particularly unpleasant creation, a thoroughly repugnant sort who uses hostility as a way to counter his own insecurities. The film is an endless cycle of nasty comments, veiled insults and bitter recriminations, with a minimum of comic relief.
The chief virtue of this laborious effort is the outstanding ensemble cast of future stars. Some -- such as Connelly, Futterman ("The Birdcage") and Harden -- already have extensive film credits but haven't yet hit the right break. Others are newcomers; Ross is just as beautiful as her mother and has an impressive naturalness in front of the camera. And Atterton, a British stage actor, manages the difficult feat of making the obnoxious Frick a compelling character.
FAR HARBOR
Castle Hill Prods.
Director-screenplay John Huddles
Producer Gigi De Pourtales Davis
Executive producers John Huddles,
Gary Huddles, John Wolstenholme
Co-producer Laura Barnett
Director of photography Tami Reiker
Editors Wilton Henderson, Margaret Guinee,
Janice Keuhnelian
Cast:
Frick Edward Atterton
Ellie Jennifer Connelly
Brad Dan Futterman
Arabella Marcia Gay Harden
Trey Andrew Lauren
Jordan George Newbern
Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross
Ryland Jim True
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/25/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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