| Reviewer Roundup |
| 1. |
 | Susan Granger |
| review follows |
|   |
| 2. |
| Harvey Karten |
| read the review |
| --- |
|
Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
After suffering the slings and arrows of "G.I. Jane,"
"Striptease," and "The Scarlet Letter," it's understandable why Demi
Moore fled to the shelter of artsy, low-key European cinema. But this
tepid drama, the first English-language film by Belgian director Alain
Berliner ("My Vie en Rose"), is forgettable - at best. Written by Ron
Bass and David Field, it's about a woman with two lives. In one, she's
Marie, a widowed American book critic with two daughters, living
lavishly in the south of France. Marie's courted by a passionate,
older writer (Stellan Skarsgard) to whom she once gave a bad review,
although she observes, "You commit beautifully." And, as her
girl-friend notes, "He's a chance to love again." In a less idyllic
but parallel universe, she's Marty, a high-powered, hard-working
Manhattan literary agent, courted by a shy, sensitive, erotic
accountant (William Fichtner). In each life, she falls asleep and
awakens as the other person and, in both worlds, she visits a
psychiatrist who confirms that she's, indeed, got delusionary
problems. But at least, this time she keeps her clothes on. Marty's
consultant (Peter Riegert) bluntly observes that she's "as mad as a
hatter," while Marie's therapist (Joss Ackland) is more tactful,
saying, "You are riding two horses, and the mind isn't built for
that." Obviously, the concept is a ludicrous, heavy-handed metaphor
about the choices facing contemporary women today, and Alain Berliner
awkwardly tries to convince us that either world could be real. On the
Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Passion of Mind" is a sumptuous but
shallow 4. With Demi Moore, more is less.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
|
out of 4
