tlavideo.com

Review

Philip Roth's novel dabbles in so many disparate areas that it's surprising that anyone would try to translate it to the screen. But director Benton and screenwriter Meyer have given it a nice try and while the result of their efforts is uneven at best, what's on the screen is often compelling. One of the film's most curious aspects is its casting. Hopkins is Coleman Silk, the American-born, British-educated English classics professor at a New England college who sees his life changing radically after he's accused of using a racial slur in class. The comment becomes even more pronounced because Silk is, in fact, black, although he's passed for white since he was in college. Kidman, also a curious casting choice, plays Faunia Farley, a troubled white-trash custodian who has an unlikely affair with the distinguished Coleman. The tortured past of both characters are revealed in flashbacks and through conversations between the two, as well as in rap sessions between Silk and a reclusive Jewish writer (Sinise) whom the former has chosen to tell his life story to. In order to accept the film's premise you must buy into the characters essayed by these performers. Unfortunately, despite the fine efforts of all, the stretch is a little too far here. The film tries to get into the various themes of racism, passing-for-white, the plight of Vietnam veterans, coming of age and more in a novelistic way, but it just doesn't quite click. It also shifts between the late 1990s during the time the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal broke and the 1950s, where we see Silk struggling with his identity and his family's response to his problems. Well-meaning and sincere, The Human Stain is best admired than for its serious approach to some pretty heady material. Blame its bumpiness on the excess baggage carried by its characters -- and the film's unusual casting decisions.

 -- Irv Slifkin