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October 31, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
The Human Stain seems an odd melding of two films
about difficult choices in life. Based
on Phillip Roth's novel, Anthony Hopkins
plays English professor Coleman Silk,
who is abruptly dismissed from his position
at a prestigious New England college
after being charged with racial prejudice.
The decision ruins his life because
everything that is precious in his life
vanishes. Sometime later, alone with
his memories that slowly reveal a secret,
Coleman befriends two people - a reclusive
writer played by Gary Sinise and a poor,
downtrodden local woman (Nicole Kidman).
Together, they will discover his secret.
The contemporary story about the heat
of a new romance in a man's later years
with a younger woman is sensual and
well acted. The Oscar-winners, Hopkins
and Kidman make the relationship between
Coleman and Faunia Farley believable.
Coleman is energized by the passionate
sex and Faunia's loneliness and drudgery
sinks below the surface of her life
by Coleman's tenderness. The immediate
thorn in their side is Faunia's crazy
ex-husband (Ed Harris) who is determined
to make sure that they will never to
be happy. But, Coleman's former colleagues
also weigh in even though they've pushed
him out of the academic life that he
cherished.
Secondly, the need for friendship is
also explored with the relationship
of Coleman and Nathan Zuckerman (Sinise).
The relationship serves to inform us
that Coleman is a gifted teacher and
well-rounded man living a comfortable
life. In the film, the flashbacks to
Coleman's early years begin because
it was then that he made a crucial decision
that would ensure that he received a
decent education and access to a better
life. As we discover, Coleman has made
some radical changes in his life and
his need for some sort of companionship
is very acute. I think audiences may
be surprised that Roth and director
Robert Benton has decided to explore
the idea of racial "passing"
by light-skinned blacks because while
this is a familiar story in the African
American community, it is not a mainstream
story. Most people (that I've talked
to and some reviewers) feel that Anthony
Hopkins and the actor who plays Young
Coleman (Wentworth Miller) are miscast
but this story requires a leap in visual
'faith' especially since the historical
reasons for such a monumental and dangerous
decision are barely touched on. Benton
has done an admiral job in rendering
these years where young Coleman's devastation
in love makes him decide to cut himself
off from rest of his family. You yearn
for more explanation and exploration
of that time, and the subject is certain
worth a separate more.
Therefore, Coleman's present dilemma
over love and his secret, and the story
of his past doesn't gel, as it should.
Unfortunately, Anthony Hopkins as Coleman
doesn't have to embrace the story of
the secret. As the older adult Coleman,
you don't see him in relation to the
past. The performances by Hopkins, Sinise
and an earthy, sensual Kidman are marvelous!
Supporting roles by Anna Deavere Smith
as Coleman's devoted mother and Jacinda
Barrett as Coleman's first love who
is crushed by the secret are superb.
But, The Human Stain
is disjointed and rather unsatisfying.
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