Indignazione

(RATING: ☆☆☆☆½ out of 5 ) THIS FILM IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. IN BRIEF: An underrated film that deserves to be seen...one of the year's best dramas. GRADE: A- SYNOPSIS: In 1951, a young Jewish man goes to college to avoid the Korean War and falls in love with serious consequences. JIM'S REVIEW: Based on Philip Roth's novel, Indignation tells the familiar story of a young repressed Jewish man falling in love (or lust) with a beautiful Gentile woman in the 1950's era. A rehash of Goodbye Columbus without the comic edge and irony, this film follows a similar outline by the same author, but is far more solemn and serious in its treatment. This is typical Roth territory in which our hero will try to overcome the obstacles placed in his path as fate deals its upper hand. Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) is an intellectual loner. Yearning to escape from his domineering Jewish family, he goes off to a conservative Christian college rather than fighting in the Korean War. It is there he meets Olivia (Sarah Gadon), a beautiful blonde vision of loveliness and their first date leads to a budding romance. It is also there that he encounters an omnipotent and powerful head dean, Dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts, in a powerful performance, but more on that later), who has great difficulty coming to terms with this all too rational and radical student and avowed atheist. The screenplay adaptation by James Schamus, who also directed the film, is first rate. It allows the characters to intellectualize their philosophies with such eloquence. The film starts off a bit too leisurely but establishes characters and place so effortlessly. The film structure begins as a flashback with narrative voice-over that doesn't really make much sense until its full circle ending, with one of the most powerful closing shots that emotionally left me gasp. Mr. Schamus' literate script aligns with his skillful direction, as this talented filmmaker captures the mindset of this nostalgic but troubled era in an understated fashion. (Speaking of fashions, the costume design by the gifted Ann Roth is a visual treat as well.) About the midway point, there is a remarkable dramatic scene that highlights the glorious direction, screenplay, and acting unlike any other film thus far this year. It is a rather lengthy confrontation between our idealist liberal young hero sparring with a smug conservative dean. The teacher becomes intellectually inferior to his student as their conversation continues. The tension builds ominously and slowly in this cat-and mouse gamesmanship, maneuvering from one point of view to the next. It is startling its its subtlety and impact. Simply put, it is the highlight of this film and one of the most engrossing scenes one will see this year in any film. The acting is superb. Mr. Lerman as Marcus is perfectly cast and carries off the innocence of youth angle in this coming-of-age tale. This actor commands the screen and makes his character quite believable and caring. His love interest played by Ms. Gadon definitely looks the part, but her acting skills never reach the depth of her written character. She needed to be that 50's female icon, a Grace Kelly type, but comes off as a second-tier Kim Novak or a third -rate Cybil Shepard. She's good, but not good enough when compared to the stellar acting by others in this movie. The film is populated with top-notch Broadway veterans in supporting roles who certainly know their way around a script. Danny Burstein plays Marcus' over-protective father and he is so strong in his nuanced acting that one wishes he had more screen time. Adding fine support in smaller roles are Ben Rosenfield and Pico Anderson. But there are two truly great performances that deserve award recognition: Linda Emond as Esther, Marcus' loving mother, who has a wonderful speech as she tries to steer her son into making the right decision. It is delivered with such skill and passion. Tracy Leets as the egotistical and bigoted Dean Caudwell, is a marvel, creating one of the most terrifying teacher role models since J.K. Simmon's sadistic teacher in Whiplash. The hatred and intolerance of others is so condensed in Mr. Leets' body language and facial expressions that the end results counteract his words in the most unsettling manner. (Oscar voters, are you listening?) The film's theme about life' s choices, about the road we take or did not take, about the small detours that can have consequences which will eternally haunt our existence, is foremost in this thought-provoking story. Mr. Schamus has made an compelling case with his wonderful debut, Indignation. Let us hope this independent film makes a compelling reason with the movie-going audience for compulsory viewing and is not lost amid the blockbusters and cinematic hyperbole that is usually the par for the summer course. Run to see this film while you can! It demands your attention!

It's so good to watch a movie where the dialog is outstanding - funny heartbreaking, frustrating and meaningful. Really listen to the dialog. There are some scenes which are just so outstanding - the first meeting in the dean' office and then when the mother talks to her son about his father and then his girlfriend. The characters are not stereotypical. The Jewish protective father instead of mother is an interesting thing to watch. Although the issues are 50s issues, this is not an old fashioned or irrelevant movie. The acting is so good I only thought about the themes and message of the story later on.

Logan Lerman's sensitive face is just right for this role. The character could seem stubborn and annoying if another actor had played him, but Logan has a likability that overcomes that. Sarah Gadon as the girl he loves is fascinating to watch as the well mannered but damaged beauty. An unforgettable character. Tracy Letts as the dean plays it just right - not a caricature of conservatism but another fascinating creature to watch. Linda Emond is restrained and effective as the worried mother.

This is a serious movie with some unexpected humor in between. A must watch - one of the best dramas in recent years.

I was on the road researching a book on Texas barbecue when I read Philip Roth's novel, Indignation. I had managed to shelve it away in my brain until I saw a movie of the same title playing at a second-run movie house near me. Could it be? Yes, it was the same story. Better than it, the sleek yet powerful prose made its way onto the screen with its integrity intact. And you know what? A crowd of about 30 of us sat rapt for 110 minutes. Nobody talked until the credits rolled, but everybody laughed at the appropriate moments and there were even a few well-placed gasps of surprise. A good story, an intelligent script and a fine cast will work that magic. Give yourself an evening to find out.

The cast is so perfect that I have to single out one performer as an example of the great work provided by all. Danny Burstein plays a father so proud of his own son and so worried by his son's future in an uncertain world marked by war that he seems to be descending into madness. The actor is harrowing to watch because you can feel all the love that burns inside of him and that he just can't bring himself to express properly. Maybe it would not be manly or maybe he doesn't know the right words or maybe he just doesn't think he needs to say anything directly. Yet we can feel his every fear, his mixture of hope and despair, his pride, his love, his frustration. Wow.

Fitting certain decades into neat little categories are repeated often enough that they have become unquestioned clichés, for example, the 50s were an age of conformity, the 60s an age of youth revolt, and the 70s the so-called "Me Generation." As in all generalizations, there is some aspect of truth even when there is a different reality that does not fit into the stereotypes. Based on the novel by Philip Roth, first-time director James Schamus' Indignation is the story of an individual who was willing to challenge prevailing attitudes. Marcus Messner (Logan Lerman) is a young Jewish intellectual brought up in a liberal environment who struggles to find his voice in an Ohio college that is a bastion of social conservatism.

Set in 1951 in Newark, N.J., tired of having to cope with the anxieties of his parents, dad Max (Danny Burstein), a kosher butcher, and mom Esther (Linda Emond) about going off to fight in the Korean War, Marcus enrolls on a scholarship to the fictional Winesburg College in Ohio, a school whose social and cultural attitudes present a hefty challenge. Marcus is intellectually precocious but socially constrained and sexually repressed and the breakout performance by Logan Lerman ("The Perks of Being a Wallflower") fully captures him in all his Rothian complexity.

The fact that he has two Jewish roommates, Bert (Ben Rosenfield) and Ron (Philip Ettinger) is of very little comfort since they are both obnoxious hypocrites. Marcus is very cautious about his social activities, declining an invitation by Sonny Cottler (Pico Alexander) to join the Jewish fraternity. When he goes on a date with Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon), an "experienced" blond-haired Gentile who shocks him by performing oral sex on him, an action in which the confused Marcus wasn't sure if he was coming or going. Overly concerned about what may have been the damage to his Cadillac LaSalle that Marcus borrowed, Ron reacts by punching his roommate in the mouth. Needless to say, this does not endear him to his dorm mates and prompts Marcus to find quieter living arrangements - by himself.

This action prompts a call from the self-righteous Dean Caudwell (Tracy Letts) to come in for an interview that takes fifteen minutes of screen time, a tour-de-farce (sic) which is both sad and funny and a master class in turning verbal sparring into an art form. While the Dean takes a welcome interest in Marcus, the interview turns into a riff on the Spanish Inquisition as the student is bombarded with questions about his application for school - why his father's occupation was listed as "butcher" rather than as "kosher butcher," why he did not put Jewish as his religious preference, why he couldn't work out his differences with his roommates, and why he has had only one date since school started. The only thing he wasn't asked is whether or not he was circumcised.

Sputtering and obsequious at first, Marcus gains strength as the interview goes on. Showing that, as Romain Rolland put it in "Jean-Christophe," he is not a sheep but a wolf that has teeth and wasn't made for the pasture, he lets the good Dean know in no uncertain terms that, as an atheist, he resents being forced to attend chapel services at least ten times a year and vigorously asserts his atheism by citing Bertrand Russell (whose character the Dean attacks), and lets the old boy know that he is his own man and that if he wants to move away from his insufferable roommates, he will do just that. Vomiting on the Dean's trophies and collapsing from the pain of an appendicitis attack was not in his plan, however, but life has a way of deciding the lessons it wants to teach.

Marcus is unwilling to let the good times roll and his relationship with Olivia takes a darker turn when he finds out that she has had a troubled past and once tried to commit suicide, though we never learn any details. Though their connection is deep and Marcus is a young man whose head is screwed on right, his continued revolt against authority and conflict with his parents does not serve him well. As philosopher Henri Bergson said, "Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance." Though Indignation is a slow burn that keeps the lid on its emotions, it ultimately succeeds in moving us deeply. Much more than another corporate product with an uplifting message to make sure that waterworks turn into greenbacks, it is a sincere and heartfelt film that illuminates the struggle against a suffocating conformity, a struggle that is just as relevant today as it was in 1950.

I had no idea what the actual premise for this film was, but I did think it would be a period melodrama that could also prove to be overly sentimental and a little sappy. However, it really surprised me in what it actually turned out to be. It's a coming-of-age take that is different from most that we get. It's very dialogue-driven and that dialogue is just a joy to listen to. The film takes a deep look into the characters' psychologies and doesn't resort to the usual dramatics that films of this type usually do. Logan Lerman is an incredibly talented actor and he once again shows his skill here. A mature and very detailed performance.