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.

Richard Russo's 483-page novel offers a multi-faceted story and a fascinating array of characters in a small town in Maine who are burdened by the weight of the past. At the heart of the story is the character of Miles Roby, the proprietor of a local grill. We learn of Miles' love that he felt for his deceased mother and the love that he feels for his young daughter. The story resonated with American readers, and Russo was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

For a film version of Russo's novel, it would be difficult to imagine the assembling of a finer cast for the quirky, eccentric characters of "Empire Falls." The unassuming and selfless Miles Roby is brilliantly performed by Ed Harris. Although Russo was initially leaning towards the actor James Gandolfini for this crucial role, Harris captures the sensitivity and emotional depth of Miles that few other actors could achieve. Other members of this stellar cast include Paul Newman (as Miles' crusty father Max); Joanne Woodward (as the town matriarch Francine Whiting); Danielle Panabaker (as Miles' daughter); Helen Hunt (as Miles' ex-wife Janine); Aidan Quinn (as Miles' brother David); Theresa Russell (as Miles' co-worker and confidante at the grill); Estelle Parsons (as Miles' mother-in-law); and Kate Burton (as Cindy Whiting and lifelong admirer of Miles). These performances were so rich that it was as if the actors had been studying the book and developing their characters for the past three years. This was a film production so faithful to its source that it would be impossible reread the novel without thinking of this enormously gifted cast.

Veteran film director Fred Schepisi led the cast with a sure-handed yet leisurely paced style. In Russo's novel, the scenes from the past are written in italics, placing the key love relationship of Miles' mother Grace and Charlie Mayne in bold relief. This crucial relationship unfolded in the film in a slightly grey haze, which conveyed a visual aura of the past. As performed by Robin Wright Penn and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the relationship of Grace and Charlie was one of the most touching among many in this stellar cast. Schepisi's transitional moments between past and present were brilliantly conceived in the film.

Russo's novel is a uniquely American saga, recalling such great works of naturalism as Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy." The story has great scope and deals with such themes as family dysfunction, small-town gossip, commerce and industry, political infighting, and, above all, family secrets. The painful layers of the past in the lives of the characters were carefully revealed to us and to the characters themselves. In one of the most moving sequences of the film, the past merges with the present, and the realization of Miles is that ultimately one must declare a "truce" with the ghosts from the past.

One of the readers affected by this powerful story was the actor Paul Newman, who had previously collaborated with Russo on the film "Nobody's Fool." Newman served as one of the film's executive producers. This HBO film adaptation of "Empire Falls" has been three years in the making, and the result is truly a labor of love.

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" (2005) is a screen adaptation of Richard Russo Pulitzer prize winning novel of the same title. It is a multi character drama that takes place in a small town Empire Falls, Maine. In its center if Miles Roby (Ed Harris) who manages the local restaurant, "Empire Grill" that belongs to a wealthy and powerful widow Mrs. Whiting. The film concerns Miles's re-evaluating his life and searching for answers to the difficult questions. In his search, he looks back at his childhood, his relationship with his mother and the connection between her life and Whitings family. Miles also has to deal with the problems of those close to him: his father Max (Paul Newman stole the show with his performance as a prodigal father), his teenage daughter Tick, his ex-wife Janine, and many more. Based on the first-rate writing, the film is masterfully shot and extremely well acted story of a small and forgotten town with no future.