STRAINED STAIN
by Mark Sells

When an esteemed classics professor is accused of a making a racist statement, the univeristy -- rather than analyze the facts and proceed cautiously -- forces him to resign. His career, marriage, and life are in ruins. Based on the best seller by Philip Roth, The Human Stain is a provocative drama about public opinion at its worst.

Veteran director Robert Benton assembles a terrific cast to tell the story of Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), a private man whose life is altered by a false sense of righteousness. Silk is a well-respected professor and dean of the prestigious Athena College in small town New England. Once an undefeated welterweight boxer known as Silky Silk, Coleman has earned his keep, working his way up through the ranks at the college and hiring professors who share in his passion. He is 71 and nearing retirement, but things take an unexpected turn. During a routine class, Silk innocently refers to two absent students as “spooks,” ignorant of the fact that the two students are black. Immediately, the allegations of racism force Coleman to resign. And in the process, his friends turn against him, his wife passes away from the strain, and he begins a tumultuous affair with a 34-year-old janitor and postal worker named Faunia Farely (Nicole Kidman).

The relationship between Coleman and Faunia is an odd one. She’s more than half his age, was abused growing up, has a husband (played by Ed Harris) who stalks her, is simplistic and illiterate, and lives a carefree and sexually open lifestyle. Coleman, on the other hand, is a widower, a highly sophisticated intellectual, and lives with a secret he’s kept for over 50 years. Living in misery after the death of his wife, Coleman seeks out Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), a famed local author, who lives a quiet life in seclusion. Knowing Zuckerman has been struggling to find that next great idea, Coleman offers his story to help. Despite initial reservations, Zuckerman comes to admire Coleman, learns about his passionate affair with Faunia and his previous loves, his career as a boxer, his affinity for big band music, as well as those who have grown to despise him. As tension rises and secrets are revealed, confrontations between past and present are inevitable.

The film takes place during the summer of 1998, the time of the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. It is here where the book and the film take their name. In fact, Benton sets the tone by opening with a conversation among students at Athena College about the nuances of the case. This is the lascivious interest that occupies most Americans' minds, even in a small town community. And it’s this preoccupation that sets the stage for Coleman’s ironic conundrum -- he embodies the spirit of Achilles and the Greek and Roman tragedies that he teaches.

Nicholas Meyer lends his screenwriting skills to adapt Roth’s delicate human drama. For the most part, he succeeds. Each scene is enticing, draws you in, and tackles the verbal byplay from the book nicely. But unfortunately, the transitions between scenes are choppy, the pieces don’t blend well together, and the logic is trifling. The effort to fill in Coleman’s past almost feels like a separate story arc altogether. Unrelated, the flashbacks occur intermittently and outlast their welcome. This is an acting showcase, and the quartet of Hopkins, Kidman, Harris, and Sinise is enough to warrant a viewing. Wentworth Miller as the young Coleman Silk gives an understated, pent up emotional performance that earns your pity. But like Twilight, Benton’s previous film, the picture falls short in spite of all the talent involved. The main cast actually has very little to do. Each has their moment: Hopkins defending his story in front of Sinise, Kidman informing Hopkins about her mangled past, Harris’ unsettling reactions to his interrogator, and Sinise matching wits with Harris. There’s even a wonderfully whimsical scene involving Hopkins and Sinise slow dancing to big band tunes. But despite all of their individual efforts, the story is too segmented to provide anything fulfilling as a whole. Especially annoying, the two main characters are unable to confront the demons that have plagued them all their lives.

The Human Stain is a somber look at cause and effect, a parable about how a society’s beliefs and morals can mask the truth, sometimes for an entire lifetime. It's an American tragedy of failed dreams and aspirations, futility and rage over social distortion, and suppressed feelings and emotions that go without communication. A powerful story, but one that is slow to develop, lingers too long in the past, and erects characters with very little resolution. Although I found myself drawn to the story, the characters, and their lives, I felt let down by the film's scattered, unresolved style.

©2003 Mark Sells
CineScene