dedalus-16

I saw this seventies movie for the first time last night. It must be one of the greats. The story line from Kesey's book, and the direction by Paul Newman are so closely woven and with such impact that there are times when one is left emotionally bare. There's not a fault in the casting,and the background of logging is nicely interwoven into the action bringing up surprise after surprise. The only flaw might be the glamorization of Lee Remick - I doubt that her character would show such a degree of grooming and cosmetic sophistication, but, as ever, Ms. Remick gives a performance that is impeccable. If awards were ever to come PaulNewman's way for direction and/or acting surely they should for this masterpiece.

This is a perfect Canadian family-in-crisis movie even if a 13 yr.old androgynous boy takes most of the attention. None of these characters knows where they are going and flip-flop along in irritable desperation until son and Mum break the mold and seek some freedom. In the interval a great witty screenplay involves us fully with editing from heaven which keeps the action running along. And the cinematographer is certainly no slouch with snow and pines shown as if painted by the Group of Seven. We expect good performance from the better known actors here but Aaron Webber in his first movie role interlocks the other characters in an insightful and low keyed performance.I only had a problem with the too neat ending which seems to overreach for dramatic incident and then comes up with a couple of overworked clichés which seem out of place in this thoughtful and revelatory drama.