Far From Heaven
4 Academy Award Nominations!
Julianne Moore (Hannibal, Boogie Nights) and Dennis Quaid (The Rookie, Frequency) star in this seductive story of a seemingly perfect family, and the forbidden desires that threaten to tear them apart.
Cathy Whitaker (Moore) has it all-a lovely home, two wonderful children and a handsome husband (Quaid), who is successfully climbing the corporate ladder. But Cathy's idyllic existence is just an illusion, and she is eventually forced to choose between living a lie or following her heart.
Academy Award nominee Moore "is a vision," declared Rex Reed, and he called Quaid's performance "the best of his career," in this stunning drama hailed by the New York Post as "one of the year's best.'
Member Reviews
Now that was a surprise! - ProfThea
This movie was like leave-it-to-Beaver for the real world. I loved the 50's period costumes and attitudes. Julianne Moore looks so delicate but is tough as NAILS in this film. She deals with the controversies of homosexuality and racism in her own strong way. Very believable and entertaining.Ambivalent and then Beguiled - Stitch
Because this very odd film hooked me from the beginning. On the one hand it faithfully captures the essence of fifties’ cinema, yet introduces a scene that would have scandalized Main Street and paralyzed the censors in those Eisenhower years. Fifteen minutes into the movie, I checked the label in case I’d misread 2002.
Consider my comments in a personal context. Only two years younger than Quaid’s character, I lived with wife and two children in an upscale neighborhood near Hartford. So I agree that here the interactions, particularly with the children and between the parents, are overdone bordering on satire. Ditto with most of the societal flak about homosexuality and race. So having lived there then and accepting this, I could relax and enjoy the histrionics … and try to unravel just what the director had up his sleeve. And then appreciate how he was doing a superb job of presenting the two dilemmas precisely in the cinematic style of the time, complete with a score to gag even the most sugared heart.
Which raises the question of entertainment merit. For me, it rates four stars for two reasons. First, because I admire the excellence of the production-- and the brilliance of Tod Haynes direction who wasn’t even born in 1957! If there was a misstep in his topical treatment of the material, I couldn’t spot it. This includes the cinematography, the sets and last but far from least, the departure scenario. And that snazzy 1957 Bonneville station wagon…
My second reason is Julianne Moore…how she transported herself back and never once missed a beat in interpreting the precise texture of performances from stars of that era. While we wade through the deliberate sappiness of the script, admire her nuanced characterization. God, how she must have craved at least one wink to an audience. Definitely Oscar worthy, for which she was nominated. Quaid in the lesser role is equally effective.
Highly recommended for fifties’ film aficionados.Heavenly - SPSullivan
"Far From Heaven" could never have been made in the Fifties, but Todd Haynes and his team do everything within their power to convince us otherwise. This is an absorbing, sobering reflection on that period, using the way that it was typically depicted on film -- and, therefore, the way we are increasingly assuming that it was actually like -- to shatter our illusions. Only superficially are the Whitakers a happy, prosperous family with the requisite son and daughter and upwardly-mobile career (his, of course). Beneath the surface, the characters confront such issues as homosexuality and racism, topics all but verboten in mainstream studio movies of the time. Even concerns about child-rearing are implied: the Whitakers' son is constantly ignored, and their daughter is an emotional wreck. What makes "Far From Heaven" work as serious drama, rather than as satire, is that all involved play things absolutely straight. Haynes' direction, Edward Lachman's glorious cinematography and Elmer Bernstein's rousing score all adhere perfectly to the tenets of Fifties filmmaking. The wonderfully controlled lead performances feel just right too: the characters are portrayed exactly as if this really was a Fifties movie. The only difference is that in "Far From Heaven", we get to see the scenes in-between at which films of the era would not have dared hint.
Member Reviews
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Now that was a surprise! - ProfThea
This movie was like leave-it-to-Beaver for the real world. I loved the 50's period costumes and attitudes. Julianne Moore looks so delicate but is tough as NAILS in this film. She deals with the controversies of homosexuality and racism in her own strong way. ...Ambivalent and then Beguiled - Stitch
Because this very odd film hooked me from the beginning. On the one hand it faithfully captures the essence of fifties’ cinema, yet introduces a scene that would have scandalized Main Street and paralyzed the censors in those Eisenhower years. Fifteen minutes ...Heavenly - SPSullivan
"Far From Heaven" could never have been made in the Fifties, but Todd Haynes and his team do everything within their power to convince us otherwise. This is an absorbing, sobering reflection on that period, using the way that it was typically depicted on film ...