As a first time visitor to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah I delved immediately into one of the darker subjects offered for viewing in the opening weekend. I saw the premiere of Tommy O'Haver's AN American CRIME at the beautiful Eccles Theater with a full-house audience.
Adding to the edgy tension of the audience, most of whom were presumably not familiar with the true events from 1965 and therefore not certain what they were about to see, was a disruption of the showing near the film's denouement by the unfortunate collapse/fainting of an audience member.
After the viewing I was left with the question "Why was this movie made?" (actually asked by an audience member during the post-showing Q&A with director, actors and writers). Unfortunately, O'Haver couldn't offer a cogent explanation other than it was a story that had haunted him since childhood; hardly a reasonable justification for bringing such a tragic story to the screen, in my estimation.
With that said, O'Haver can't be accused of portraying the events with an overly gratuitous heavy-hand. When comparing the portrayed abuse of Sylvia Likens to available accounts I've read, it is clear he held back, but most likely in the interest of film length and as restricted by budget.
While O'Haver's presentation of the events was compelling, I feel Catherine Keener's performance held the film back. When asked during the Q&A how she came to be a part of the film, Keener made it clear she didn't originally want to take the rule of Gertrude Banicziewski. That comment confirmed to me that she was not really invested in the part. While it is possible she consciously chose to avoid an over-the-top Faye Dunnaway/Joan Crawford/Mommie Dearest performance...and she could justify the approach as Gertrude was intensely dulled by pheno-barbitol during the worst of the period of abuse...I nonetheless got the sense this was a sleep-walk for Keener. She didn't want to be there and it showed.
Maybe after being part of last year's CAPOTE Keener felt she risked being pigeon-holed into darkly-themed movies (40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN not withstanding). Maybe she should have just said no.
Beyond Keener's performance, O'Haver's film added nothing to the crime-retelling genre. This will likely not be a mainstream film but not because the subject matter is too dark. We've seen these themes many times before. It will be because, at the end of the day, it is simply not a great work. The viewed does not fear the evil of the Banicziewski home. Many of the characters are poorly drawn and come across as almost cartoonish. Near the end of the film O'Haver careens perilously close to slasher-film melodrama before pulling back at the last second. You could sense this is where O'Haver lost most of the audience.
AN American CRIME was not a terrible film. But, it will not be held aloft in the pantheon of crime dramas with the likes of THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG and others.
Adding to the edgy tension of the audience, most of whom were presumably not familiar with the true events from 1965 and therefore not certain what they were about to see, was a disruption of the showing near the film's denouement by the unfortunate collapse/fainting of an audience member.
After the viewing I was left with the question "Why was this movie made?" (actually asked by an audience member during the post-showing Q&A with director, actors and writers). Unfortunately, O'Haver couldn't offer a cogent explanation other than it was a story that had haunted him since childhood; hardly a reasonable justification for bringing such a tragic story to the screen, in my estimation.
With that said, O'Haver can't be accused of portraying the events with an overly gratuitous heavy-hand. When comparing the portrayed abuse of Sylvia Likens to available accounts I've read, it is clear he held back, but most likely in the interest of film length and as restricted by budget.
While O'Haver's presentation of the events was compelling, I feel Catherine Keener's performance held the film back. When asked during the Q&A how she came to be a part of the film, Keener made it clear she didn't originally want to take the rule of Gertrude Banicziewski. That comment confirmed to me that she was not really invested in the part. While it is possible she consciously chose to avoid an over-the-top Faye Dunnaway/Joan Crawford/Mommie Dearest performance...and she could justify the approach as Gertrude was intensely dulled by pheno-barbitol during the worst of the period of abuse...I nonetheless got the sense this was a sleep-walk for Keener. She didn't want to be there and it showed.
Maybe after being part of last year's CAPOTE Keener felt she risked being pigeon-holed into darkly-themed movies (40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN not withstanding). Maybe she should have just said no.
Beyond Keener's performance, O'Haver's film added nothing to the crime-retelling genre. This will likely not be a mainstream film but not because the subject matter is too dark. We've seen these themes many times before. It will be because, at the end of the day, it is simply not a great work. The viewed does not fear the evil of the Banicziewski home. Many of the characters are poorly drawn and come across as almost cartoonish. Near the end of the film O'Haver careens perilously close to slasher-film melodrama before pulling back at the last second. You could sense this is where O'Haver lost most of the audience.
AN American CRIME was not a terrible film. But, it will not be held aloft in the pantheon of crime dramas with the likes of THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG and others.