Writer and director Todd Haynes loves the past. His "Velvet Goldmine" was a paean to 1970s glam rock stars and now the seemingly idyllic world of 1950s America is captured in the cartoonish "Far From Heaven," starring Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid.
Sterile and full of forced smiles, the world of "Far From Heaven" is comfortable, safe and without controversy. Or is it? Hartford, Connecticut, 1957... Cathy Whitaker (Moore) and her husband Frank (Quaid) have a lovely home on a leafy green street, two adorable children, countless friends, a maid, a gardener and, clearly, a healthy salary from Frank's job as a successful sales executive at a local TV manufacturing firm.
Cathy is preparing for a big party with her friend Eleanor (Patricia Clarkson) and continues to host the ladies for lunch on a regular basis. But is everything as happy as it looks? Cathy isn't sure why Frank appears to be growing distant. He's working late and seems to lack a sexual appetite.
When she brings Frank dinner one night at the office, she walks in to find him kissing another man and her world falls apart. But not completely. That happens after she begins to confide in and strike up a friendship with her African-American gardener Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), a widower with a young daughter. Even her best friend -- who pities Cathy's suffering when she learns Frank is gay -- immediately turns on her when she suspects something is happening between Cathy and Raymond.
Soon, the town is abuzz with gossip about Cathy and Raymond and Haynes shows us that 1957 New England could be just as racist a place as 1957 Mobile, Alabama. But how will Frank react, when he's got problems of his own. He's busy visiting a doctor, trying to "cure" himself of his homosexual desires. Will it work?
Clearly Haynes is showing us that for all of the apparent happiness, success and progress of 1950s America, we had a long way to go in understanding and acceptance.
But "Far From Heaven" isn't just a morality play. It's also an exercise in finely detailed tribute to a genre: the melodramic soap opera-style work of Douglas Sirk, director of "All That Heaven Allows."
"Far From Heaven" is beautiful to look at -- and sometimes makes us laugh -- and Julianne Moore and Dennis Haysbert serve up masterful performances. So why, in the end, don't we really care about any of these people? Is it because we feel superior, thinking we're much more accepting? Is it because the mannered acting of Dennis Quaid and some of the other characters sucks the life from the story?
Maybe it's that "Far From Heaven" has a lot of style and a good message, but in the end, feels a little trite and simplistic. Although I'd normally suggest renting a film like this, I do recommend you see in a theater, because it looks lovely on the big screen.
"Far From Heaven" opens Fri., Nov. 22 at Landmark's Oriental Theatre.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
