Empire Falls

Richard Russo's brilliant novel gets a full movie treatment from HBO Films under the direction of Fred Schepisi. This multi layered saga of people in a small and forgotten town in Maine follows Mr. Russo's novel and makes its people come alive, as portrayed by some of America's best actors working as an ensemble under Mr. Schepisi's unobtrusive direction.

Empire Falls serves as a metaphor for all that has happened in most New England towns when industry abandoned them and unscrupulous liquidators came to pick at the bones of whatever was left behind in order to make an easy buck.

At the center of the story we find Miles Roby, a decent man who has to deal with the present day realities and try to keep his family together. As played by Ed Harris, Miles offers the actor one of the best roles he has given us in years. Helen Hunt, on the other hand, seems to be miscast in the role of Janine; her fake accent doesn't seem to help her.

Paul Newman, as the eccentric patriarch of the Roby family, loses himself in his role and we forget we are watching anyone by that crazy Max Roby. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes a great contribution with a small appearance. Robin Wright Penn is seen briefly also as Grace, Miles mother who is a key figure in the story.

The rest of the cast is excellent.

The best thing that can come out of this adaptation is that people will flock to read Richard Russo's novels because he is an important voice in American literature.

I saw the premiere in NYC, and I work with one of the cast members, so my take on the movie is a bit biased.

I also grew up in Maine, and know several of the locations well. All told, the production captured the sense of community in Maine very well. Look out the window of the Empire Grill for the best music store chain in the country, Bullmoose Music, or the background for other Maine details - Gifford's Icecream, Hannaford's, Route 201, Kennebunkport (and the Bush compound at Walker Point).

The film is excellent, and managed to translate the Richard Russo novel quite well. There was little changed or left out from the book - keep in mind this is a nearly 4 hour mini-series in two parts, 8 chapters. Watch it in two installments, late May, 2005 on HBO.

There is a very interesting dynamic with Paul Newman playing the passionate opposite of real-life wife Joanne Woodward, playing the rational and controlling matriarch. Ed Harris is the center of the production, and turns in a well considered and Mainer-like performance. Danielle Panabaker also performed well, and will turn into a starlet sooner than later. The supporting cast of Helen Hunt, Dennis Farina (hilarious), Kate Burton (wow), Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright Penn, Aidan Quinn, and Jeff DeMunn add up to an amazing ensemble.

It would be a 10 of 10 if the ending weren't the easy way out of a complex story, a problem with the book as well as the film.

Although everyone should read the book - it will pull you in and you'll know the real Maine and the people who live there - this film is the next best thing. The script is amazingly deft, the acting is brilliant, and the production design and values are beautiful and true to the source. Paul Newman completely embodies Miles'incorrigible father and never fails to light up the screen while completely exasperating you - like he must do to everyone who comes in contact with him. Ed Harris portrays Miles as the complex and very subtle person with a thoughtful quietness that lets you know both why people are drawn to him as well as gives you clues why he keeps these same people at a perceptible distance. The rest of the cast members are just as distinguished in their roles. (The talent quotient is unbelievably high!) As amazing as this production is on just about every level (except for the music, which is irredeemably cheesy but fortunately mostly unobtrusive) credit must be given first and foremost to Richard Russo for writing characters so real and so complex and nuanced, and dialogue that is realistically elliptical that the real pull of the movie is not waiting to see what happens, but in getting to know the characters better. These are all ordinary people and what makes them interesting is not what they do, but those subtle things that make them who they are. This is why the mini-series format was perfect. It gives the viewer the opportunity to get to know Empire Falls. My only wish is that at some point one could see this on the big screen. Certainly the mythical town of Empire Falls (and the real town that it represents) is an important character and IT'S crowded on the small screen.

Dan Plante

It took me weeks to read the book, which, for me, is unusual. It wasn't that I didn't like it; to the contrary, I couldn't believe how terrific it was. But I could not put my finger on why it was taking me so long to read, until I reached the final third of the book: I simply did not want it to end. I had come to know the characters so well, through the deftness of Richard Russo's prose, and had come to like (at least most of) them, that I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye.

Such was my reaction to HBO's film version of this great American novel.

Others here have praised the production, so I'll only add my brief thoughts: The cast, from the main players to the secondary characters, is uniformly excellent, with one or two exceptions. It was thrilling to see Joanne Woodward back on the screen, but she interprets the role with a softness that, in my opinion, was entirely absent from the actual character she was portraying. So, a point or two off there. Otherwise, the acting was brilliant.

The screenplay adhered very closely to the novel, but some key dialog was disappointingly missing. I recognize that a 400+ page book, to be translated to film, requires editorial discretion. Still, a few things were lost that should have remained.

While the first half takes its time to establish characters and relationships, the second half feels rushed, and the ending definitely so. I couldn't help but feel that something was left on the cutting room floor. But then again, I didn't want it to end in the first place.

Because I am such a fan of the book, I was eager for my wife to see the movie (she hasn't read the book). So, I had a lot invested in the hope that they wouldn't screw it up. When the final credits rolled, I looked over at her, and her tears were flowing. "I didn't want it to end," she said quietly.

And neither will you.

Empire Falls is a remarkably intelligent piece of work, so very different from most mindless Hollywood films today. The smooth blend of comic and tragic with satiric overtones was brilliant. The easy transition from past to present reminds us all of the interdependence of child and parent, and the poignancy of different types of love. It reminded me of what films used to be capable of portraying in an era before mindless special effects took the place of human drama. The cast and crew should be commended for their artistic integrity in not succumbing to the current trend in the entertainment industry to cater to the lowest common denominator. I hope some Hollywood producers think about the fact that film can be thought-provoking, and not just a series of electronic jolts.

Empire Falls was a clear indication that there are still actors and actresses out there, and there are stories to be told without resorting to egregious remakes of old television series. If film is to be a viable part of culture, it needs to stimulate the mind of the viewer, and this film does that by creating complex characters who come to life on the screen. The issues of ambition and failure and love and hate pertain to us all, and the range of ages of the characters allowed for a wide identification. Empire Falls is a shining example of what the entertainment industry is capable of producing when it sets its mind on portraying the reality of the human condition with all of its weaknesses and strengths.