“Evening” (Focus Features)
The Stars Shine Brighter Than the Story
“Evening” is a movie based on a novel by Susan Minot. It tells the story of a dying woman who remembers some pivotal events from her life. The cast includes Claire Danes, Vanessa Redgrave, Toni Collette, Patrick Wilson, Natasha Richardson, Glen Close, Meryl Streep and Eileen Atkins. This stellar cast is impressive but the story they have to tell is not.
Ann Lord (Vanessa Redgrave) is dying. Her two daughters, Connie and Nina (Richardson and Collette) are at her bedside. Ann begins to ramble on about people in her past, which causes the daughters some consternation. She speaks of her only love Harris (Wilson) and they don’t know who he is.
In flashbacks we see the young Ann (Danes) going to the home of the Winterborns because her best friend Lila (Mamie Gummer) is getting married. Charlie (Hugh Dancy) who is Lila’s brother and another good friend of Ann’s, tells Ann that Lila doesn’t love Carl (Timothy Kiefer), the man she is going to marry. He tells her that Lila is in love with Harris.
When Ann meets Harris she too is attracted to him but she stays loyal to Lila, and even tries to talk her out of marrying Carl. Harris in the meantime avoids Lila and tries to get to know Ann. Charlie becomes jealous of Harris and lets Ann know that he cares deeply for her.
All the while this is going on the movie flashes back and forth between the years. This is not an effective way to tell the story and makes the action of the past grind to a halt. But there are also problems in the present. Nina is afraid to commit to her lover while Connie appears to be intolerant of Nina’s mood swings. And through it all Ann takes her own sweet time to die.
The acting in this movie is close to perfect. Danes is at her all time best but somehow she just doesn’t have the charisma necessary to make a big impression on the screen. Redgrave is huskily tragic. Her best scene is with Streep who makes a brief appearance as the older Lila. Glen Close also has one jolting scene as Lila’s mother.
Wilson is bland as Harris but then Wilson is always bland. Dancy steals the movie as Charlie. He is touching and tragic in every way. Gummer, who is Streep’s real life daughter, looks just like her mother but doesn’t have her talent.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity, mild violence and sexual situations.
“Evening” is a disappointment because of the high caliber of its cast. Audiences expect a movie this rich in “stars” to have something important to say, but this movie talks and talks about nothing of significance.
If you just want to see good acting, go to see “Evening.” If you want to watch an interesting story, look elsewhere.
I scored “Evening” a dimming 5 out of 10.
