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"'Mind'
Games"
by Scott Mantz
"Passion of Mind"
Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgard
Directed by Alain Berliner
Isn't it fun
to daydream about what it would be like to be someone else? Well,
what if we daydreamed for so long that we couldn't tell which life
was real and which was imagined? That's Demi Moore's nightmare in
the ambitious, but utterly confusing, "Passion of Mind." While the
film features strong performances from Moore, Stellan Skarsgard,
and William Fichtner, it tries so hard to be arty and meaningful
that it only ends up being pretentious and forgettable.
Marie (Demi
Moore) is a widowed mother of two who lives a quaint and cozy existence
writing book reviews in the French countryside. Her alter-ego, Marty
(Moore again), lives a crazy and high-maintenance existence as a
single literary agent in New York City. Marie/Marty cannot figure
out which life is real and which is imaginary, and her bi-coastal
boyfriends, William (Stellan Skarsgard) and Aaron (William Fichtner),
learn a painful lesson in patience and jealousy while she endeavors
to figure it all out. Which life is real? Which is the dream? Do
we care? Not really.
"Passion of
Mind" sat on the shelves for about a year before it was acquired
by Paramount Classics, and judging by the finished product, maybe
it should have stayed there. There's certainly a lot of passion
in the characters portrayed by Skarsgard and Fichtner, but there's
not enough depth to back it up, and they seem far too understanding
about Marie/Marty's condition to convey any sense of realism. As
if the story itself didn't make any sense, the constant jumping
back and forth between the two locales only adds to the confusion.
Had the film not taken itself so seriously, like it's far-superior
distant cousin, 1998's "Sliding Doors," then maybe the audience
might have been more inclined to suspend their disbelief and go
along for the ride.
Filmmaking is
a largely collaborative process, but "Passion of Mind" ends up being
an example of what happens when the filmmakers don't collaborate.
Director Alain Berliner fails to give his main characters the heart
and soul that his previous film ("Ma Vie en Rose") had. Not that
it's entirely his fault, since screenwriter Ron Bass, writer of
such paint-by-numbers Hollywood films like "Stepmom," "My Best Friend's
Wedding," and "Sleeping with the Enemy," had a contract stipulating
that no tampering was to be done with his screenplay. It shows.
The story seems to have been earmarked for a big Hollywood production,
while the style seems more at home in the independent arena. The
melding of the two approaches may have looked good on paper, but
it sure doesn't look good on the screen.
"Passion of
Mind" represents Demi Moore's first screen performance since "G.I.
Jane" in 1997, and while the film falls short, her performance is
worth noting. As Marie, she displays the fragility of a woman trying
to get back on her feet in the wake of her husband's death, while
as Marty, she captures the confusion of a woman trying to hide her
loneliness by losing herself in her work.
Stellan Skarsgard
plays Moore's love interest in France, while William Fichtner plays
her main squeeze in New York. While both actors are far from being
the type of Hollywood hunks you'd expect to see alongside a beauty
like Moore, they make up for it with strong and passionate performances.
Skarsgard holds a friendly grudge over Moore for her scathing review
of his latest book, but his love for her, as contrived as it may
be, is so strong that he cannot contain it. Even though Fichtner
plays the nice guy that she just want to be friends with, even she
cannot resist his ulterior motives. The problem is that both characters
seem remarkably understanding about Moore's condition, which takes
away from what little credibility the story already has.
Two heads may
be better than one, but sometimes these heads only end up getting
in each other's way. Maybe a big-time Hollywood screenwriter like
Bass should stick with a big-time Hollywood director, while an independent-min
ded director like Berliner should stick with the type of material
that gives him the freedom to follow his passionate vision. As long
as that happens, maybe both artists will end up making films that
audiences wouldn't mind seeing.
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