So what's it all about?
Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins) is a university professor who has built
his life around a lie. When charged with racism, telling the truth would
save his career, but instead he decides to resign. The shock kills his
wife. He befriends author Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) and tries to
persuade him, unsuccessfully, to write a damning book about the campus.
Later he meets a much younger woman, Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), and
they have an affair. But Faunia’s psychotic ex husband Lester Farley (Ed
Harris), keeps stalking them, with fatal consequences.
Is it any good?
It’s good, but not as good is it could have been. Hopkins, Kidman,
Sinise and Harris all deliver excellent individual performances, but never
seem to gel as a cast. Their characters are interesting, containing much
depth and many flaws. Silk has lived his entire life as a lie, but doesn’t
seem to show any remorse. Faunia Farley suffered childhood and spousal
abuse, lost both her children and refuse any kind of emotional intimacy,
and Zuckerman lives in seclusion, terrified of life after two failed
marriages and writing an almost-best seller. The storyline is absorbing;
dealing with class and race issues, but the adaptation from the novel to
the screen is where the movie falls down.
There are too many gaps in the characters lives and two crucial scenes
are just not plausible. The first is the initial meeting between Silk and
Zuckerman – Silk appears at Zuckeman’s door in the middle of the night,
demanding him to write a far-fetched novel about how the university killed
his wife. Instead of befriending him, Zuckerman should have thrown him
out. The second is the meeting between Silk and Faunia Farley, which leads
to their affair. There is absolutely no chemistry during their brief first
meeting that would act as a catalyst for them to hop into the sack.
From a purely technical point of view The Human Stain is well filmed.
It takes place with the Clinton-Lewinsky inquisition as a backdrop,
creating numerous parallels regarding the older-man-younger-woman
relationship and the deceit that takes place throughout the movie. The
film also features numerous flashbacks to Silk’s life as a student
(Wentworth Miller delivers a brilliant performance as the young Silk) and
what his secret is.
The film features beautiful, melancholic music that suits the
characters and the scenes. Sinise takes the dual part of narrator and the
Zuckerman character, and although he acquits himself well; there is not
enough substance to make the movie great.
Score: 3/5
How about those special features?
Not much here. There’s one making of feature that includes interviews
with the main actors and a description of the novel, which makes the
viewer more aware of the elements that are missing. Aside from that
there’s a couple of trailers of forthcoming attractions.
Score: 1/5
Best part:
The final scene on the frozen lake between Zuckerman and Lester
Farley.
Best quote:
"I don’t do sympathy” – Faunia Farley.
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The
Human Stain