Here's a peek at the British premiere of CIDER HOUSE RULES complete with some star gazing thrown in for good measure...

Not often us trans-atlantically challenged english types get to see stuff before they've been on wide release for ages over there in film-land, and so old-news. However, using the most sophisticated amphibian spy techniques known to man or frog (okay, a phone and a credit card), tickets to the British premiere of Cider House Rules were procured, courtesy of the London Film Festival, and I thought you might be interested in my review.

For added fun, Tobey Maguire was present in person at the showing, and went up to the stage, clutching his popcorn, to thank us all for coming, very sweet.

Anyway, the review:

This is the fourth film based on a book by John Irving - The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire, and Simon Birch, based on A Prayer for Owen Meany, being the others. However it's the first time that the screenplay has been developed by the author himself, which can sometimes be a good thing, and sometimes bad.

The story follows the fortunes of Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), an orphan who somehow never quite manages to find a home, and so grows up under the guardianship of Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine), the doctor in charge of the orphanage, who delivers the babies, and sometimes delivers the would-be mothers, despite the illegality of abortion at the time. As he approaches adulthood, Homer meets a young couple that come to the orphanage, and decides to go with them when they return home, leaving behind the orphans and his unofficial medical training, motivated in part by his distaste for abortion, and also by an attraction to the young woman, Candy (Charlize Theron), and a desire to see more of the world.

This will be familiar to anyone who has read the book, as the main story is followed very closely by the film. However, large chunks are necessarily left out, to avoid what would have to be a 6 hour film, so if you're waiting for the condom-dispenser or curried fish balls, you'll be disappointed. Always a risk with adapting a large densely plotted book for film, but the heart of the book is very much still present.

On the surface, this is a very sentimental film, always a danger where cute little orphans are concerned. This is, however, well balanced with the grim nature of the themes explored. Abortion is always a hard topic to deal with, and it would be easy to sensationalise, but this is avoided, which I think makes the point being made much more effective. You don't have to see the contents of the containers which Homer is frequently seen taking to the incinerator to know what's in them. This subtlety seems to have led some people to believe that abortion is hardly dealt with at all in the film, I'd suggest those people watch again and pay attention. Even the somewhat tragic and very touchingly portrayed romance, as Homer falls for Candy, who just isn't any good at being alone (her husband is off at war), is part of Homer's coming of age, which in turn is part of how his opinions change, from the idealism of youth to a more hardened realism at the harshness of the world. The final push coming from the plight of Rose Rose (Erykah Badu), the daughter of Mr Rose (Delroy Lindo), one of the black immigrant apple-pickers, with whom Homer shares his lodging in the cider house.

All the main roles are well performed. Tobey Maguire effectively portrays a young man who mixes almost perfect obstetric procedure with an innocence and naivity regarding the world at large. Michael Caine is superb (as long as you can overlook the times when his accent slips, just slightly), as the ether-addicted but strongly opinionated Dr Larch, and Charlize Theron gives Candy the kind of glow which makes it obvious how Homer could fall for her. This is all complimented by a group of smaller parts which still manage to be well rounded complex characters. The film looks stunning, has a good original soundtrack, and is directed by Lasse Hallstrom to just the right side of sentimentality. My one criticism would be that there are a couple of times when it seems to lose direction a little, and so drags (this is not a fast-paced film), but those moments don't last long.

As a fan of the book, I'd highly recommend this, as long as you can accept the large chunks which are cut out. I'd imagine it's a good film to those that havn't read the book too.

Jonathan