Le poids du déshonneur

BEFORE AND AFTER

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

A middle-class New England family is forced to confront a range of difficult issues when the eldest child (Edward Furlong) is accused of murdering his girlfriend (Alison Folland).

Barbet Schroeder's earnest drama looks and feels like a big-screen TV movie, toplined by A-list stars and filmed with professional elegance on wintry New England locations. Schroeder struggles to avoid melodrama and mawkishness, resulting in a lack of tension, as parents Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson become torn between protecting their son and telling the truth about his possible involvement in Folland's death. Frustrated lawyer Alfred Molina makes the point that 'truth' has little or no bearing on the criminal justice system, where defence and prosecution teams become engaged in brinkmanship designed to sway the jury one way or another. Ted Tally's screenplay makes a number of similar points, but the narrative begins to drift around the halfway mark and never really recovers. Some will be won over by the cast and production values, others won't be so forgiving.

In this film, a typical middle-class couple tries to cover up what they think is a homicide, after their son runs away without saying anything. Actors' work is consistent, but characters are so clichéd and annoying that it's hard to like them. Meryl Streep plays the good and naive mother, always in the shadow of her husband in a relationship that seems sexist and artificial. She is the portrait of the obedient housewife who does what the husband wants. I understand that the film is from the nineties, but even then there were other ideas about the role of women in the family. Liam Neeson is an impulsive and even violent father, whom its almost impossible to like, even though he shows that he likes his son and tries to protect him. Finally, Edward Furlong plays the teenager in revolt at who bad things happen, the idiot who dated a promiscuous girl who slept with anyone who appeared without pants in front of her. Ah, I almost forgot Alfred Molina, who played a lawyer who would be better off selling vacuum cleaners than in a courtroom. In short, it's a deep and engaging melodrama, but it makes the mistake of being totally predictable, like a TV movie.

"Before and After" isn't any kind of great movie, but an interesting look at situations going out of control. Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson turn in their usual good performances, as does Edward Furlong. It's just that this story of parents having to deal with their son getting accused of murder is sort of routine (although some scenes are pretty intense). It seems like Streep and Neeson deserve something a little more than this. The people behind the movie probably could have developed things a little further.

All in all, this movie's worth seeing, if only once. Also starring Alfred Molina, Daniel Von Bargen (Commandant Spengler on "Malcolm in the Middle") and John Heard.

The shortcomings of the United States' justice system are explored in "Before and After". A youth (Jacob) is fighting with his girlfriend and she accidentally falls on a jack which kills her. The family grapples with whether or not to tell the truth not only the courts but to their own lawyer and police officer who is a family friend. Is it morally right to tell the truth that the girl's death was nothing more than a mere accident and hope that it will be believed or should a story be made up in the hopes that Jacob will be let off since the police have no evidence. (The father, in the interests of protecting his son, wiped the jack clean of the blood).

We learn of course, that everyone is against the mother and son who want to just tell the truth, especially the lawyer who is interested more in getting Jacob off the hook, no matter how much of a story he has to invent, how many lies he has to tell, how many people's characters he has to besmirch. The moral structure behind the criminal justice system in the U.S. is uncovered as not one that seeks what is right or true but what kind of entertaining bi-polar battles between the defense and the prosecution can be unleashed in a furious game of words.

While the theme of the film is compelling, the production standards are low. This seems more like a made-for-TV movie. With big guns like Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep you'd expect better acting. While Streep's performance is okay, Neeson seems like not the best choice for this role. Also, the actor playing the second dark-haired lawyer seems too clownish for his role. Surprisingly, I found that the young actors were the strongest. The actors playing the two children, especially "Jacob" were extremely skilled.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I had put off watching it for a long time because I thought it would fall on standard clichés in the telling of its murder mystery. But there's a lot to like here. For starters, the performances by the lead actors are first rate. Streep and Neeson come across as real people tackling a real problem. I should also add that Alfred Molina also gives a solid performance as the defense attorney. (Though the fact he looks like idiot movie critic Michael Medved gave me a few chuckles at times.)

The script gives most of its characters a fair shake. The parents are sympathetic at times, but sometimes they make decisions we disapprove of. The townspeople and police are not one-note characters, showing off more than one side.

The movie unfolds at a pace that keeps us interested and informed. It's directed with an appropriate bleak look that suits the subject matter.

There is one flaw with the movie, however. I thought that Edward Furlong's character was repulsive, stupid, and hateful. I don't blame Furlong for this, but his direction and his parts of the screenplay. I think a better way the movie could have gone would be to give him a mixed view, neither overly sympathetic or hateful. This would make the viewer think long and hard about him, and wonder if his fate at the end of the movie is correct or not.