A film review by Mark O'Hara Copyright © 2000 Mark O'Hara

Yes, John Irving has his meandering plots and quirky twists - even his eccentric names - but he is no Charles Dickens.

There are a lot of Dickensian allusions in THE CIDER HOUSE RULES. Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) and his protégé Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire) read DAVID COPPERFIELD aloud at bedtime, to their charges in the orphanage. Homer also reads SKETCHES BY BOZ. Of course there's supposed to be a parallel between Wells and Copperfield, the rising to manhood the stuff of epic and expansive story.

Somehow THE CIDER HOUSE RULES is not as wide as it tries to be.

The time, early 1940's, the war going on. Larch is a doctor who runs a castle-like facility in the wilds of Maine. It's an orphanage, maternity hospital, and abortion clinic under one roof. Larch is the only doctor, though he has two nurses Edna (Kathy Baker) and Angela (Jane Alexander), and his orphan-turned-assistant Homer. In a series of expository scenes, we watch women giving birth and leaving their babies, women choosing to terminate their pregnancies, and couples studying the young populace of St. Cloud's in hopes of taking home the child of their dreams. Actually, director Lasse Hallström and novelist/screenwriter John Irving have put together some comfortable and endearing scenes within the walls of the old place. The children sleep in attic dormers, the single beds stretching down the great room, and every night they listen to stories (the girls to Nurse Angela, the boys to Larch or Homer) and wonderfully worded prayers. Upon lights out, Dr. Larch's ritual is the farewell, "Good night you princes of Maine, you kings of New England." Weekly they view the movie KING KONG, the projector breaking down predictably. Between the hard labors and failed adoptions, life is good.

Up the dirt road one day drive Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd) and pregnant girlfriend Candy Kendall (Charlize Theron), their mission to seek an abortion. Wally is in the Army Air Corps, and answers Homer's questions as Candy recovers from the procedure. The glimpses Homer catches of the outside world cause him to decide, quite on the spur of the moment, to leave the orphanage. It doesn't seem to matter where he goes; Homer just wants to widen his vista. Wally and Candy take him to Wally's mother's orchard, where Homer joins a crew of black migrant workers who sleep in the cider house and pick the Worthingtons' apples. For a while Homer receives letters from St. Cloud's, beckoning him gently back. But Homer stays, and after Wally is called to active duty, Homer proceeds to fall in love with Candy. When it's not apple season, Homer sleeps by himself in the cider house bunks - or pulls one beside his to accommodate Candy - and he also works for Candy's father, harvesting lobsters. Between his shifts, Homer and Candy neck in the woods or in Paul's sedan parked in the lot of the drive-in theater, which is closed because of wartime blackouts. Life is good.

A small caution: what follows is a spoiler, not of the climax but of a rising event that leads to the climax.

The problems occur at this point. One of them concerns the pregnancy of Rose Rose (Erykah Badu), the victim of an incestuous union with her father, played by Delroy Lindo. Mr. Rose is the crew boss of the migrants, and although usually very polite and dignified, he takes vehement exception to Homer's interest in assisting Rose. That is, until Homer reveals his medical experience, including his ability to perform abortions.

Irving infuses his story with this controversial subject, having Wilbur Larch preach the evils of back-alley abortions (one victim of a botched abortion turns up at St. Cloud's only to die afterwards, of "ignorance," according to the doctor). He also derides Homer for his objections to abortion, his argument being that as long as women will have them done illegally, they'd better have them done safely. My question, why doesn't Irving at least objectify the topic by showing both sides? Why don't we see women sobbing with guilt or breaking up with their angry boyfriends, or even a protestor or detective confronting the state-paid abortionist? What the filmmaker is happy with is a product that smacks of pro-choice bias. What's worse is the predictable outcome of Homer's caving in to the old rationalization that abortion is all right in cases of incest.

Will Paul return from the war? Will Homer return to St. Cloud's, to his father-figure Dr. Larch and all of his adopted brothers and sisters? These questions I will not spoil.

Another question: is the business surrounding the title weighty enough? The short story writer Raymond Carver used to create his stories without titles. Then he would listen very hard to what the story was telling him, and select some small phrase that would resonate with meaning. What Irving has here is a cool-sounding name, but not enough earned importance behind it. Like much of the film, there's a false profoundness.

The film is beautifully photographed. Maine looks stunning in the fall, and it seems most of the filming was in this season or in winter. The long shots of lakes and wooded valleys imbue the picture with a solid and timeless setting. And the many antique pieces of medical equipment are terrific to look at. Especially intriguing are the newborn cradles, types of canvas slings, and a breathing apparatus Larch has made for a sick boy. We are further treated to vintage apple cider presses and other old routines involved in apple-picking and lobster-fishing.

Michael Caine, an Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor for this film, does a nice job as Larch. His style is quite natural and well-timed; his American accent is full of r's, though I did pick up his Cockney accent on a few words. Why didn't Hallström have him - or any of the other characters, for that matter - do a pronounced New England twang?

Tobey Maguire is the real male lead, and his performance is subtly powerful. As he believes he has a heart defect, Homer tries to remain composed at all times, never getting too raucous. Maguire plays cool most of the time, and at high points expresses his emotions with quiet facial strain. Quite effective. He is most life-like when he turns to sarcasm with Candy, as their illicit relationship approaches a turning point. He is least life-like when the script causes him to go against the philosophy he thought he would embrace for life.

Charlize Theron is believable as Candy. She is sweetly concerned with Rose Rose, giving her clothes and, later, counseling about her pregnancy. Her boyfriend, played by Paul Rudd, gets too little screen time, but also delivers a likable, well-sketched character.

THE CIDER HOUSE RULES has taken its place as one of the five nominees for Best Picture of 1999. Why shouldn't it win? Not because the Academy might have a backroom political agenda or whim in giving it the nod for nominee, but because the film does not have a feeling of completeness, the feeling of clear direction and tight arrival that a much better-than-average film must have to make the cut of the final five. The events we watch feel desultory, half-baked, placed in front of some very lovely backdrops and moving music. But this is not Dickens, and neither is it Academy Award material.

	Running Time: 131 Min | Rated: PG-13 | US Release: Dec. 17th | More >>

Related Links:

• Official Site
• Bomis: The Cider House Rules Ring
• Upcomingmovies.com: The Cider House Rules
• Cadrage: Le magazine du cinema International

A story about how far we must travel to find the place where we belong.