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Customer Reviews of Other Voices, Other Rooms

An elegant adaptation to an American Literary Masterpiece
I saw Other Voices, Other Rooms at the Hamptons International Film Festival where I think it won an award. Lothaire Bluteau, who won the Canadian Academy Award for Best Actor, gives a complex and inspired performance. The Film is really stollen by April Turner, who plays Zoo, the African American woman who inspires Joel to leave the madness and claustrophibia of Skully's landing.

The New York Times said this was one of the best Southern Films in several decades, and I can't agree more. Don't miss this one!

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Languid adaptation of Capote classic
"Other Voices, Other Rooms" was Truman Capote's first novel, published in the late 40s when he was twenty-four. Lyrical and poetic, it was an auspicious debut and hinted at greater works to come. It is the story of a thirteen year old boy who is sent to live with his estranged father in rural Alabama. Upon arriving in the sleepy little town, the locals direct him to a dilapadated mansion on the outskirts of town where he doesn't find his father at first but instead an eccentric pair of cousins who seem to be lost in time.

Part coming-of-age drama with some mystery thrown in, this would be a difficult book for anyone to film. The director does a decent job and the movie is not as bad as I first thought it would be. The film achieves the effect of depicting the hot and lazy atmosphere where time seems to stand still. Production values and cinematography are excellent.

This is basically a character study and therefore strong actors are needed to pull it off. Unfortunatley, this is an area where the film suffers. David Speck as young Joel is physically ideal and has a wonderfully expressive face but he could have been better coached with his lines. Anna Levine as the odd Any Skully is made up to look like a Bette Davis drag queen and she also delivers bad line readings. On the plus side, Lothaire Bluteau as gay cousin Randolf Skully fares much better and commands every scene he is in. April Turner as Zoo, a black servant who longs to move up North and see snow, is very good and her scenes always lend a breath of fresh air when the film starts to falter.

There are no extras on the dvd and the film is presented in full frame format.