Hiding in Plain Sight
Movie Review of 'Heights'
Volume four, Issue 24 | June 16 - 22,
2005FILMHEIGHTSDirected
by Chris TerrioSony Pictures
Classics Opens Jun.
17Union Square, Paris
TheatersJames
Marsden, As Jonathan, is at the center of romantic attentions in Chris
Terrio’s “Heights,” yet he is an indifferent young man, with
anger that’s
displaced.Hiding in Plain
SightChris Terrio
observes art-world New Yorkers in
“Heights”By SETH J.
BOOKEYWhen a student playing Lady
Macbeth decides to “raise the stakes” by handing her stage husband a
pistol, actress Diana (Glenn Close) admonishes her students to “listen to
the words” and then rants about how people have lost their passion.
“We’re not even ice!
We’re tepid water!” she exclaims, noting how passively people can be
when confronted with infidelity. Ironically enough, Diana and everyone around
her seem to hide in plain sight when it comes to their true feelings.
“Heights” is the story of
arty, privileged New Yorkers who, as one character observes, are
“super-conscious” but “sleepwalk through their own
lives.” They often talk of “real people”—as if they
themselves aren’t real people. When Isabel (Elizabeth Banks) takes a photo
of a woman and her child on the subway, she is admonished immediately:
“Don’t you have your own fucking
life?”Diana flirts outrageously
with Alec (Jesse Bradford) after he auditions for her, and we next meet
Diana’s daughter, Isabel, and her hunky future son-in-law, Jonathan (James
Marsden). That couple’s relationship fluctuates from ambivalence to
jealousy and back again. They use walkie-talkies to stay in constant touch, but
use their impending nuptials to hide real issues. Isabel would love to go on an
exciting photographic assignment to Eastern Europe for Vanity Fair to capture
“the real people” in her
lens.Meanwhile, Peter (John Light)
arrives from London to research a Vanity Fair article about his own boyfriend
Benjamin, a photographer, on the occasion of Benjamin opening a new exhibition
of his work. It is only upon his arrival that he learns that the research
involves interviewing a roster of ex-boyfriends and tricks Benjamin has
photographed, the news coming from his editor (Isabella Rossellini, with an
unfortunate haircut giving her a Dave Foley
look).How such a convenient list of exes
is assembled goes unexplained, but this is how we discover that Jonathan is one
of those exes. He’s also the cover boy on the photography catalogue that
is the public image of Benjamin’s
exhibit.“Heights” is full of
these coincidental situations, but it’s no comedy; instead, it’s
full of sad, passive, unfulfilled people. Diana, bitter as she watches her
husband fall in love with her own understudy, encourages Isabel to be sure about
Jonathan before plunging into marriage.
Meanwhile, Peter is calm and
professional interviewing his lover’s various tricks, each of whom verify
that Benjamin is a jerk. “Heights” is full of moments when bad news
is bluntly delivered, often by intimate friends, and yet there’s no angry,
hysterical reaction. Characters convey a strange sense of “intake”
instead of outrage. “Heights” is much like a Woody Allen
movie—successful New Yorkers take taxis from their fantastically large
apartments to elegant nightspots, parties and rooftop conversations.
Amy Fox, who originally wrote the story
as a one-act play, and director Chris Terrio wrote the screenplay for
“Heights.” The film expertly uses the visual strengths of cinema to
underscore the underlying story’s themes. The concept of height is
conveyed not only by rooftop conversations, but also with stage-to-audience
dialogues. Diana finally realizes her marriage is over when she spies her
husband openly affectionate with her understudy in her own home from a nearby
balcony. Cater-waiter/actor Alec is absurdly dressed up in a tux serving hors
d’oeuvres to a party full of half-naked guests, who are using binoculars
to watch people across the street who are either having sex or staging it for
the benefit of their voyeurs. Jonathan hopes to keep his interlude with Benjamin
a secret from his photographer girlfriend, but Isabel is almost certain to go
the exhibit. Terrio uses a split-screen
technique several times to great affect, usually while Isabel and Diana are
talking on cell phones. Seeing them simultaneously catches their disconnection
better than intercutting would; Isabel tries to say something important while
Diana silently signs an autograph on her end. Produced by the Merchant-Ivory
team, everything about the film, their first in New York in 20 years, is as
good-looking as its cast.Glenn Close is
superb as Diana, a character who quotes Shakespeare rather than speaking her own
mind. Close is a silent observing presence throughout the film, her image on
phone booths, or floating by on a passing bus. Tellingly, she complains that she
looks like Helen Keller’s teacher, Annie
Sullivan.Marsden, as the universal
object of desire, does a great job of conveying indifference and misplaced
anger. George Segal has a great small role as the rabbi the young couple go to
for some pre-marrital intermarriage
talks.If anything, “Heights”
is subdued without being restrained, a quality particularly well used to keep
the “gay surprise” element in perspective. Whether Jonathan is gay,
bi or simply had a one-time experience with Benjamin is not the point.
“Heights” manages to present life as it often is. The film gives
adult audiences a nice alternative to the usual summer blockbuster
fare.
Posted: Thu - June 16, 2005 at 10:42 PM
|
Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat
|
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jun 20, 2009 07:03 PM
|