Hey all. Capone in Chicago here.

While this based-on-a-true-story episodic film could have been an insightful examination of the perils of marrying above your station, instead SAVAGE GRACE focuses on the seedier and more unsavory aspects of what happens to people who strive for social distinction at the expense of family, friends, and personal well-being. The story focuses on the life of Barbara Daly and spans from 1946 to 1972, during which time Barbara (played by the spectacular Julianne Moore) hardly seems to age a single year. Barbara thrives on her countless social engagements, matchmaking (personal and professional) and being a part of her husband's influence.

Stephen Dillane is Brooks Baekeland, who goes through the motions of playing Barbara's society tool with little complaint but much inner seething. The couple have a child/accessory, Tony, whose training in languages, the arts and all things society children ought to know seems to be the blueprint for the spoiled little shit he becomes later in life. Eddie Redmayne plays the adult Tony, whose homosexual encounters are kept under wraps by his parents. His father is ashamed and disappointed in him; his mother seems to approve because she views it as a way to stay close to him (more on that later).

The biggest problem I had with director Tom Kalin's take on this material (based on the book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson; screenplay from Howard A. Rodman) is that he presents one "scandalous" revelation about the Baekeland family as if they were the ones who invented this behavior. Brooks' sexual preferences with his wife as well as his affairs, Barbara's alcohol-fueled raging and Tony's gay ways are all revealed as being shocking and unheard of, when in fact we've seen this sort of thing a million times before. The film does manage to throw us a few unexpected curve balls in its final 20 minutes or so as Barbara makes the ultimate play for Tony's affections.

It's literally impossible for Moore to be bad in any drama (her work in comedies is another story), so to see her spin through SAVAGE GRACE in all her redheaded glory is a real treat. But the rest of the movie seems exactly the opposite of what it's trying to be. The film is hardly decadent or eye-opening. I was particularly put off by Redmayne's acting style; he seems to be trying much too hard to act the spoiled, foppish man-child. Dillane fares a bit better, but his screentime is so limited that he hardly has time to improve the film's shortcomings. SAVAGE GRACE is a film behind its time. Anyone who has read a Tennessee Williams play will probably ask "What's the big deal?" about the movie. And while I consider Moore's performance worth the price of admission, I still cannot recommend the film.

Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com