Overall The Human Stain was a decent film. The acting was good but the story had way to many conveniences. There were also many secondary characters whose actions were not properly explained or justified. I heard later that many portions of the book were ignored, which is normal (as 1 page of a book = at least 1 minute of movie) but missing pages are normally resolved in the screenplay. For instance the Firm eliminated the whole subplot of the Mafia trying to kill Mitch McDeere by having a single scene, `I am your lawyer and can never testify against you.' In contrast the Human Stain seems to just trudge along at times leaving a bewildered viewer.
STOP NOW to avoid SPOILERS .
There are many fine filmic techniques that save the film. The opening scene's missing students echo the disconnection Coleman Silk suffers from his brother and sister. The long shots of the porch dancing are masterfully filmed. The posts of the porch simulate the negative space between the frames of film stock and the effect is very pleasing. The set-up is duplicated later in the films closing scene and the two are the most appealing scenes in the film.
Gary Sinise turns in the strongest performance in the film, but there are some strong smaller supporting roles as well. Iris Silk's dialog at the end of the film is a sounding board for all that everyone who is fed up how silly the current political correct climate has become.
Annoying that we never really find out why all the Coleman's colligate colleagues abandon him. This is probably the biggest single flaw in the screenplay. There are many unexplained scenes involving the dean of the school. Maybe I should have read the book first.
I saw this as an advance screening and despite the screenplay issues would probably pay to see it again. *** (out of 5)
STOP NOW to avoid SPOILERS .
There are many fine filmic techniques that save the film. The opening scene's missing students echo the disconnection Coleman Silk suffers from his brother and sister. The long shots of the porch dancing are masterfully filmed. The posts of the porch simulate the negative space between the frames of film stock and the effect is very pleasing. The set-up is duplicated later in the films closing scene and the two are the most appealing scenes in the film.
Gary Sinise turns in the strongest performance in the film, but there are some strong smaller supporting roles as well. Iris Silk's dialog at the end of the film is a sounding board for all that everyone who is fed up how silly the current political correct climate has become.
Annoying that we never really find out why all the Coleman's colligate colleagues abandon him. This is probably the biggest single flaw in the screenplay. There are many unexplained scenes involving the dean of the school. Maybe I should have read the book first.
I saw this as an advance screening and despite the screenplay issues would probably pay to see it again. *** (out of 5)