Every year
at around Oscar time, I feel as though it's my duty to make sure that I've
seen every movie nominated for Best Picture. Of the five nominees, I'd already
seen three a while ago ("The
Sixth Sense," "The
Green Mile," and "American
Beauty") and I saw one this past weekend, that one being "The
Cider House Rules." Hopefully, I'll get around to seeing "The
Insider," which is the last remaining Best Picture nomination that
I've yet to see.
I have a feeling that the Miramax guys put the campaigning on overload again
(which is why many feel "Shakespeare
in Love" beat out "Saving
Private Ryan" for Best Picture last year, though me personally,
I preferred "Shakespeare in Love" anyway), because even though
"The Cider House Rules" is a pretty good movie, it certainly isn't
worthy of a Best Picture nomination. I woulda much preferred seeing "Being
John Malkovich" or "Magnolia"
in that slot.
"The Cider House Rules" stars Tobey Maguire, a guy who was fortunate
enough to have all of his scenes deleted in the horrendous "Empire
Records." He recently starred with Reese Witherspoon in "Pleasantville,"
an excellent, thought-provoking film that few people saw. Tobey Maguire
is a good actor, but every time I see him in a movie, he seems to have the
same delivery. The guy has a bright future, though. "The Cider House
Rules" also features Charlize Theron, Michael Caine (an Oscar nominated
performance, but his accent keeps coming and going), Delroy Lindo, Paul
Rudd (the gay guy in "The
Object of My Affection"), Kieran Culkin (he's been getting a lot
more work lately than his brother, Macaulay), and Erykah Badu, who was very
good in a demanding role.
The screenplay was written by John Irving, who also wrote the novel of the
same name. I've read two books by John Irving, and saw the movies they were
based on ("The World According to Garp" and "The Hotel New
Hampshire"... the movies were good, but the books were better). He's
a great writer, and he always throws in a dark twist or two (you'll find
them in "The Cider House Rules"), but I wasn't nearly as satisfied
with this movie as I was the other two (I haven't read the book, and I probably
won't). I guess the story just wasn't as interesting to me. The director
was Lasse Hallstrom (his last name has those two little dots over the letter
"O", so pretend it's there), a well-respected Swedish director.
He also directed "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Once Around,"
and strangely enough, "ABBA: The Movie."
"The Cider House Rules" was pretty good. I was fairly entertained,
and I liked the performances, but Best Picture? I remember when I saw "The
English Patient," and I thought it was okay, but totally overrated.
Then it won the Oscar for Best Picture (as well as many other categories).
I'd like to see either "American Beauty" or "The Green Mile"
win, but "The Cider House Rules" is a Miramax movie, just like
"Shakespeare in Love"... and "The English Patient."
Scale of 1-10: 6