First of all, the acting in this film is superb. Nichols made a brilliant casting decision similar to his legendary decision to cast the very ethnic Dustin Hoffman in the once-Aryan role of Benjamin in The Graduate. Instead of giving filling out the central love triangle of Kushner's piece with movie stars, he chose a trio of relatively unknown stage thesps. All three perform brilliantly--Justin Kirk, in particular, is hands-down the best Pryor I have ever seen--and steal the show from the skilled, but somewhat more pedestrian efforts of big names like Streep, Pacino and Thompson.
Mary-Louise Parker and Jeffrey Wright (reprising his stage role) are equally amazing. Parker invests Harper with a sexuality and intelligence that I've never seen in the role before--even in a situation in which she seems utterly powerless, she seems to be the one in control. Wright's Belize perfectly captures the flickers of humanity and strength beneath his character's bitchy, fabulous persona.
The problem is that Nichols seems to have invested little time in finding a stylistically consistent way to transfer the fantasy element of Kushner's piece to the screen. The dream sequences, which were in my opinion never the strongest point of the original play, often feel painfully long and dull. Of course, to stage them with elaborate special effects and gigantic set pieces is to completely miss the point. Indeed, this was the one part of the script that should have been significantly edited and reconceived for television. The window dressing style that Nichols has employed robs the more "realistic" part of the film of some of its power and emotional legitimacy.
Which is not to suggest that there aren't some other flaws with the script. The role of Joe, though well played by Patrick Wilson, still feels somewhat underdefined. While I realize this is may be partially deliberate given the character's mental state (he is in the process of "coming out"), his unclear motivation often come off as listlessness rather than confusion.
Pacino, unfortunately, is miscast as Roy Cohn, one of the most over-the-top characters in modern drama. Needless to say, Pacino and flamboyance are not a particularly winning combination, and the one-note performance that results contrasts harshly with the subtelty of Shenkman, Wilson and Kirk (ample evidence that stage actors are not necessarily more over-sized than their screen counterparts).
Despite these problems, there is much to be moved by in this adaptation. Although it doesn't quite work as a coherent whole, its pieces are quite remarkable.
Mary-Louise Parker and Jeffrey Wright (reprising his stage role) are equally amazing. Parker invests Harper with a sexuality and intelligence that I've never seen in the role before--even in a situation in which she seems utterly powerless, she seems to be the one in control. Wright's Belize perfectly captures the flickers of humanity and strength beneath his character's bitchy, fabulous persona.
The problem is that Nichols seems to have invested little time in finding a stylistically consistent way to transfer the fantasy element of Kushner's piece to the screen. The dream sequences, which were in my opinion never the strongest point of the original play, often feel painfully long and dull. Of course, to stage them with elaborate special effects and gigantic set pieces is to completely miss the point. Indeed, this was the one part of the script that should have been significantly edited and reconceived for television. The window dressing style that Nichols has employed robs the more "realistic" part of the film of some of its power and emotional legitimacy.
Which is not to suggest that there aren't some other flaws with the script. The role of Joe, though well played by Patrick Wilson, still feels somewhat underdefined. While I realize this is may be partially deliberate given the character's mental state (he is in the process of "coming out"), his unclear motivation often come off as listlessness rather than confusion.
Pacino, unfortunately, is miscast as Roy Cohn, one of the most over-the-top characters in modern drama. Needless to say, Pacino and flamboyance are not a particularly winning combination, and the one-note performance that results contrasts harshly with the subtelty of Shenkman, Wilson and Kirk (ample evidence that stage actors are not necessarily more over-sized than their screen counterparts).
Despite these problems, there is much to be moved by in this adaptation. Although it doesn't quite work as a coherent whole, its pieces are quite remarkable.