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

The opening scene of Tim Robbins' historical fiction CRADLE WILL ROCK shows a moment that sets the tone for the entire sprawling piece. Emily Watson's character, Olive Stanton, awakens on the stage behind the screen of a 1930's movie palace. She's homeless, and as she puts on her stockings and shoes to skedaddle before the manager catches her, we watch the backward images up on the screen. Quickly the social milieu is clear, and Robbins has done his job of making history accessible: he has shown the place of an individual within the roiling span of history. The Great Depression is on, and the lives of countless Americans are in fact backwards.

What stands at the center of the narrative is the play "The Cradle Will Rock" by Marc Blitzstein. It is a musical with a political bent, a pro-union diatribe against the exploitative capitalists who are scrambling to protect their interests from what they perceive as a very serious Communist threat. As part of the Federal Theater Project - a division of the Works Progress Administration - the play is being produced by John Houseman (Cary Elwes) and directed by Orson Welles (AngusMacFadyen). Following the production of the play, the main plot takes us through rehearsals - including a few tantrums thrown by Welles - all the way through opening day, the day after the Federal Theater Project has been closed by the government.

With painstaking research and risk-taking that is quite creative, Tim Robbins holds our interest through the entire piece. CRADLE WILL ROCK (though I don't care for the title) is a film full of ideas, inspired directing, and political messages that are still fresh. There is a great deal of talk about prostitution, in both literal and figurative senses. Is it selling out when Olive sings a song for a nickel on the street corner? When an artist paints a mural for a commission, or when a writer curtails her script to match the wishes of benefactors? What comes first, survival or artistic integrity? Robbins is to be admired for addressing these questions and many more.

One risk the director takes is in the strangeness of the playwright Blitzstein. Hank Azaria plays the tortured writer, whom we see early in the film, working in his cramped apartment on the script to CRADLE. Because he's not slept in two days, he seems to be hallucinating, the figures of his deceased wife and of the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht appearing to him frequently. Later, after his arrest for being in the midst of a labor rally, Blitzstein composes large parts of his play from a jail cell, the apparitions acting as a sort of chorus. Azaria does a nice transparent job with his character; he is never obtrusive, but captures well the generous nature of the socially aware playwright.

Emily Watson, doing a very effective American accent, is fine as Olive Stanton. After life hands her a hard time, she suddenly lands one of the lead roles in the Welles-directed vehicle, and her dreams proceed to come true. One is reminded of Drieser's novel SISTER CARRIE, in which a young and vulnerable woman makes good on the stage. Olive was selected by the producers because of her innocence; even Watson's singing voice is plain and sincere.

As Orson Welles and John Houseman ( adults will remember Houseman from the television series "The Paper Chase" and Smith Barney commercials, and perhaps Welles from wine commercials and appearances on the "Tonight Show" with his magic tricks), are done adequately by MacFadyen and Elwes. In parts, though, MacFadyen overacts, and Elwes slips into pompous caricature. Their function in the plot is fulfilled well, however.

Robbins's wife Susan Saradon plays Margherita Sarfatti, an agent of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. She's in the states to raise money for the building of an Italian war machine. The relevance of the politics hits us cleverly, as we watch wealthy magnates like Gray Mathers (Philip Baker Hall) and William Randolph Hearst obtain masterpieces of Italian art in exchange for large cash stakes. Again, art being sold out, this time in the most pathetic of senses, to be used by Mussolini and his ally, Hitler. Sarandon is best when she lets the character's politics hang all the way out, as when she scolds artist Diego Rivera (Ruben Blades) for his political idealism and how he worked it into a mural commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller (John Cusack) to decorate a wall inside Rockefeller Center.

This political theme is explored further through the subplot involving Hallie Flanagan (Cherry Jones), the administrator of the Federal Theater Project. Jones gives Flanagan a sincerely mature and open-minded point of view; without hesitation she funds a worthwhile children's play, only to hear later some scandalous rumors about how the play encourages rebellious behavior! In a scene out of countless movies set two decades later, we watch as Flanagan is grilled by misguided politicians with witch-hunting agendas. Quiet but assertive, Jones tries to refute as well as she can the lurid assumptions surrounding her agency. One hopes to see Jones as a featured actress in many films to come.

Bill Murray, as Tommy Crickshaw the ventriloquist, and Joan Cusack, as Hazel Hoffman, work well together and serve as would-be love interest. Although she works as a clerk in the WPA agency that hires the artists for the programs, Hoffman's politics eventually send her to testify against what she perceives as politically and racially dangerous topics. Murray has a crush on the younger Hoffman, and seems to take up her torch merely because of his attraction. Both actors have such sadly expressive faces as they discover their respective truths.

Robbins' directing chores must have kept him quite busy. It is difficult to create a semblance of confusion, and the irony is that Robbins had to be supremely organized to make his action seem so chaotic. In one of the most moving segments toward the end, Robbins employs canny cross-cutting that builds momentum among the subplots. One smallish problem is that it is hard to tell if some scenes are meant as tour-de-force or as serious satire; but the sheer power of the premiere of "The Cradle Will Rock" offsets these concerns, with its unconventional staging and strong socio-political undercurrents.

The film is rated R for occasional strong language, some nudity - among artist Diego Rivera's models - and brief sexuality. It would be fine for children 15 and above, and would definitely engage viewers who like to learn about history and drama.

	Running Time: ? Min | Rated: R | US Release: Dec 10th 1999 | More >>

Related Links:

• Official Site
• Star Seeker Movies: CWR
• Upcomingmovies.com: Cradle Will Rock
• The Ultimate John Cusack Site - Cradle Will Rock