At a New Jersey school reunion, Nathan Zuckerman (David Strathairn) recalls class football hero Swede Levov (Ewan McGregor) but Jerry tells the writer Zuckerman the full story. Nathan is jewish and marries beautiful catholic Dawn Dwyer (Jennifer Connelly) despite his father (Peter Riegert)'s religious objections. He manages his father's glove factory and moves out into the country. They live a decent life and they send their stuttering daughter Merry (Hannah Nordberg) to psychiatrist Sheila Smith (Molly Parker). A teenage Merry (Dakota Fanning) turns radical over the Vietnam war.
This is Ewan McGregor's directorial debut. It's probably too ambitious. His lack of experience leaves the movie missing a direction and intensity. It's an epic that is beyond his capabilities. First, I would abandon the wrap-around present day story. The stuttering is problematic. I'm sure that it's part of the novel but it stalls the conversational flow. Aside from the stuttering, some of the dialogue is clunky. This wants so badly to be shocking and emotionally sprawling. It would help to give Dawn more screen time especially after Merry's departure. The hotel scene with Rita is almost comical and Dawn should be there. Dawn's deterioration is too abrupt because the movie doesn't follow her down. Nathan is stuck in a frustrating way. By falling short, this fails through setting the bar too high.
This is Ewan McGregor's directorial debut. It's probably too ambitious. His lack of experience leaves the movie missing a direction and intensity. It's an epic that is beyond his capabilities. First, I would abandon the wrap-around present day story. The stuttering is problematic. I'm sure that it's part of the novel but it stalls the conversational flow. Aside from the stuttering, some of the dialogue is clunky. This wants so badly to be shocking and emotionally sprawling. It would help to give Dawn more screen time especially after Merry's departure. The hotel scene with Rita is almost comical and Dawn should be there. Dawn's deterioration is too abrupt because the movie doesn't follow her down. Nathan is stuck in a frustrating way. By falling short, this fails through setting the bar too high.