Voleuse de vies

Margaret Atwood novels have not fared well as movies because she is far more interested in ideas than stories. The Handmaid's Tale had such powerful ideas it wasn't surprising the movie version disappointed. I'm not sure if Atwood was trying to write a comic novel when she wrote Robber Bride or trying to get as close as she could to a mystery novel. As with so many of her efforts, she wasn't successful at either, but the quality of her work makes reading her worthwhile anyway. CBC was pretty daring even to try to turn the novel into a TV movie. They chose the easy way out and turned it into a comic thriller. It works as well as other comic thrillers, better than the recent CTV adaptations of detective novels. It is the acting by Mary-Louise Parker, Amanda Root and others which earned it an above-average rating for me. Maybe with more money they could have turned it into a good cinema film.

I watched this movie last night on TV and even the commercial interruptions didn't dull my enjoyment of it. In fact, it was actually kind of enjoyable to be able to discuss how the plot was thickening every once in a while. The acting was well done - from the lame-brained hippie on Toronto Island to the scientist, the publisher etc, everyone did a great job. So does that imply it was well directed? I think so. It flowed well, the storyline was clear and I was left with the impression that Atwood's original book would be great fun to read. It wasn't perfect, mind you, but the weaknesses were minor, probably because it didn't aim to be some fantastic sophisticated production. It was simple, clear, and fun.

The first thought that came into this viewer's mind was to question Ms. Parker on her choice of vehicles. After having seen her in the New York stage in the brilliant "Dead Man Cell Phone", one can't only guess it was a project that looked good in the written page and it turned out to be a different thing when it started shooting.

Granted, Margaret Atwood's novel is not exactly the easiest thing to adapt for the big screen, or even television, as it's the case with this ill conceived idea. Our only suggestion to this talented actress is to stay in New York where she seems to have a knack for choosing plays in which to shine, as she has proved with "How I Learned to Drive" and "Proof", just to mention two other plays in which she shone.

While this is not a horrible film, by any means, the people behind it seem to have not get the essence of Ms. Atwood's work by the way it's presented. Better luck next time.

It took a long time for me to get into this movie. But I stuck with it because there was nothing else on. I am glad I did, because after about 45 minutes I was intrigued, and then I found myself wanting to know what would happen next. Parts of the movie were predictable, even the ending was in a way. But there was a nice twist when something I expected to happen didn't happen. I still don't understand why the women did what they did, and we will be talking about it for a while. Which makes a good movie in the long run. That said, I doubt I will watch it again. I found the acting wooden in places, the direction rather staid, and the cinematography uninspired. But then, as a made for TV movie, it won't be expected to win any awards.

I watched this movie for its two hours and have absolutely no idea what it's about. Somebody got murdered or maybe they didn't and maybe somebody did it or maybe they didn't. This brought back memories of the good old days (bad old days?) when all CBC Canadian movies were stinkers. Lately stinkers have been the exception but this confused hodge podge of trendy feminism, mind reeling flash backs and mumbled dialogue makes up for lost time. I've never found Margaret Atwood's books easy to read. This movie continues that fine Canadian tradition. It isn't easy to watch. Maybe the trendy folks at the chi chi Toronto cocktail parties will pretend they liked it. Us folks in the boonies are a little less pretentious.