Georgia Rule ( right, with Felicity Huffman, Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan, L-R ) . Lohan in Georgia Rule._____
Based on the purported off-screen antics during the shooting of Georgia Rule, tabloid favorite Lindsay Lohan would seem like a godsend for the troubled chick-flick genre, which has been on life support as of late. Famously chastised due to 'unprofessional conduct' ( i.e., hard partying ) by co-star Jane Fonda and the studio head, Lohan's alleged behavior has the advantage of closely mirroring the character she plays in the movie—which might help bring in nosy audiences eager to make comparisons between the real and the imagined. Unfortunately, the wobbly Georgia Rule isn't likely to help restore the women's picture genre to prominence or profitability.
As a devoted fan of chick flicks, I'm not happy to report this. I wanted to like Georgia Rule the way I wanted to like The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood after falling for their trailers and opening segments. But both movies veer far from the heartwarming female generation-gap dramedies they promise at their outsets into much darker territory. Sisterhood's real focus was clinical depression and Georgia's is sexual abuse. Not surprisingly, we learn that both scripts were written by Mark Andrus ( albeit the first was an adaptation of a best-selling novel by another writer ) . It's also not surprising to learn that if Georgia Rule works at all—which it does in fits and starts—it has little to do with the look, sound and feel of the picture, but has more to do with the acting skills of its three female stars ( Lohan, Fonda and Felicity Huffman ) . This is, after all, a movie from Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Women, The Princess Diaries and a lot of listless dreck in-between. As I've noted, a Marshall picture succeeds or fails based on the star wattage of his cast, and in Georgia Rule he's got luminosity in spades.
She may be a tabloid princess, but Lohan is also an appealing, accessible actress; she's a natural in front of the camera who more than holds her own with Fonda and Huffman. Lohan plays Rachel, a troubled, trash-talking, trampy 17-year-old who has indulged in plenty of drinking, drugging and diddling. Huffman is the fed-up mother who dumps Rachel at strict grandma Fonda's house in conservative Idaho for the summer—a last chance to shape up before college. Rachel deals with granny's antiquated rules ( hence the title that makes the teeth ache ) and life in the stifling town by acting out Big Time.
Rachel does her best to set the townspeople on fire with her wicked ways. However, when she reveals the true reason for her immature ways—sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather—the picture, which has already changed tone almost as many times as Rachel has changed slutty outfits, settles into a drawn-out version of 'he said/she said,' whose outcome hinges on whether mom and grandma will believe her and do something about it.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Huffman and Fonda is like a female version of the one between Fonda and her father in On Golden Pond—only this time Huffman plays the younger, embittered daughter and Fonda is the cranky, brutally honest disapproving parent. Both actresses give it their all, but the script doesn't really offer much insight into what made the relationship between the two women come apart in the first place. Though the sexual abuse theme isn't exactly heartwarming ( to say the least ) , Marshall's trio works hard to make the uneven script work. Also, another huge asset in the movie is the always-welcome Dermot Mulroney as the man that Huffman left behind. Marshall is also filmmaker enough to ensure that, in the end, audiences will get one of those heart-tugging redemption scenes and leave the theater wiping away the tears.
In Georgia Rule, Rachel gets a second chance, while in real life Lohan finished the film, went into rehab and promptly returned to her party lifestyle—all breathlessly reported by the tabloids. Audiences get to have their heartstrings tugged as the troubled young lady on the screen sees the error of her ways but also get to tsk-tsk and take the moral high ground over the miscreant actress playing the part. This is a rare case of a chick flick providing satisfaction, in some measure, both on and off the screen.
Avant-garde Canadian writer-director Guy Maddin, famed for his German expressionist-influenced pictures like The Saddest Music in the World and Tales from the Gimli Hospital, returns with Brand Upon the Brain! Shot quickly on location in Seattle in the director's signature black-and-white jittery style, Maddin goes even further this time and opts for a silent movie complete with title cards and a lavish though ironic film score ( by Jason Staczek ) .
The movie is narrated by Isabella Rossellini in a drop-dead manner that helps punctuate the tongue-in-cheek comedic tone of the picture, which, in true Maddin style, is stuffed with an assortment of freakish characters and goings-on. The plot centers on a young man ( named after Maddin himself ) returning to his childhood home—a lighthouse on a barren, chilly island where his abusive mother and mostly absent, mad scientist father ran an orphanage in a rather Dickensian manner.
Followers of Maddin's offbeat films will revel in the jerky rhythms and twisted motivations of the characters, but I must confess that after marveling at the director's unique vision for about 20 minutes, as usual, I found myself glancing at my watch. Though I'm a big fan of Maddin's short films ( especially Sissy Boy Slap ) , I've never been a true convert to his full-length features and, frankly, find them a bit tedious—with Brand Upon the Brain! being no exception.
I'm intrigued, however, at the plans for the opening weekend presentation of the film, which will take place at the Music Box Theatre May 18-20. An 11-piece orchestra, augmented by a castrato and a sound effects team, will play the score while actor Crispin Glover delivers the narration; these additions certainly have the makings of a unique evening at the movies. Thereafter, the version I screened—with Rosellini's narration, prerecorded music and sound effects—will be shown. Ticket prices for the live version with Glover will be higher. Information at www.musicboxtheatre.com .
Check out older reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . People can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is ordering information on my new book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.
