Cheap The Safety of Objects (DVD) (Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Patricia Clarkson, Mary Kay Place) (Rose Troche) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Safety of Objects

The Wonders of Women, Working
THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS is a superb film directed by Rose Troche from an correlative collection of stories by AM Homes and delivered with touching dignity by a cast of some of our best actresses - Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Patricia Carlson, Moira Kelley - and supported by actors including Dermot Mulroney and Joshua Jackson and Timothy Olyphant. Just as in her book by the same name, there are many stories happening simultaneously and in the film adaptation they all interrelate even more closely than the book suggested. This is the suburbia madness Homes knows so well - four familties living adajacently and bonded in various degrees by the near fatal auto accident of Paul Gold, a youth in his prime who touched the lives of more people than he knew. In the film he continues in a vegetative state, binding his caregiving mother (Close), offering food for longing for his secret lover (Clarkson), and providing a seemingly endless search for normalcy by the one in the accident who wasn't physically injured (Olyphant). Secrets, longings, and fantasies play strong roles in the lives of all of the characters who are very realistically written and acted and it is to Rose Troche's credit that she keeps us involved and guessing until the final frame. A very fine, very challenging piece of film making.

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A good cast in a jumbbled film...
Like MAGNOLIA and several other films released recently, THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS attempts to take a number of stories about life in suburbia and mold them into a single, interlocking narrative. However, the result is a mess.

While the film boasts a good ensemble of talented actors (Glenn Close, Joshua Jackson, Dermot Mulroney, Timothy Olyphant, Jessica Campbell, Patricia Clarkson, Robert Klein, Moira Kelly, and others) who deliver relatively good performances, the film doesn't seem to have enough for all of them to do. And what they are allowed to do doesn't always make sense. For example, Dermot Mulroney's character becomes obsessed with helping Glenn Close's character win an SUV contest in a local mall instead of mending his on the brink relationship with his family. Why does he do this? I have absolutely no idea and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. There just doesn't seem to be a good reason for it.

While I'll admit I was engrossed by the story as it unfolded, it was because I was waiting for a bigger payoff. Something that didn't seem so purposeless. The film does bring up some good points here and there but in the end the only thing that seems memorable about the film is Paul's Song by Bullet and Jessica Campbell that is constantly played throughout the film as if to help tie everything nicely together. As a matter of fact, the song, at times, almost convinced me that I liked the film more than I really did but in the end, it was just the song I was in to, not the movie.

"In the morning, I hear the angels. They kiss our faces to help you smile. Oh, help me. We never touch. Please, remember I still believe in something beautiful. And you are all I need. Lift me up. I'm crying." - Paul's Song

D

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A BOOK ADAPTATION GONE AWRY...
With a superlative ensemble cast giving note worthy performances, I expected this movie to be better than it actually was. Unfortunately, it was a sterile production, as none of the characters really grab the viewer emotionally. The normal rules of engagement seem to be lacking, leaving the viewer with the sense of having seen a shell of what was potentially a good film. Instead, the viewer gets a film with a few good hurrahs amidst a motley reel of celluloid. It is an ambitious film that does not see its ambitions realized.

Adapted from a book of short stories by A. H. Holmes, the film attempts to weave these short stories into a collective, cohesive narrative. It is a strained effort, at best. It gives an ostensible slice of suburban angst through the stories of four middle class families, neighbors in a suburban community. All have some connection to a car accident that severely injured the son of one of these families, causing him to remain in a vegetative state.

The film plods along, unraveling the accident in tortuous fashion as it takes the viewer to the final denouement. Some of the characters behave inexplicably without rhyme or reason as to why they would behave in such a fashion, leaving the viewer to wonder why. While the reasons may be of interest, there is not a clue as to such. It may simply be that the author's interrelated short stories simply did not adapt well to film, despite best efforts to make it into a cohesive entity.

Yet, a pre-pubescent boy talks to his sister's Barbie doll, believing that they have some kind of relationship, and he believes that Barbie talks back to him. A man whose marital relationship is on the brink of disaster leaves his wife and family at a critical juncture in order to help a neighbor try to win an SUV contest at a local mall. Why they act in this fashion is the question. The answer is entirely shrouded and obscure, so that the viewer is left puzzled and grasping at straws, in the end not really caring at all why.

So, despite excellent performances by the cast, the film is torpid at best, staying afloat simply because of the efforts of the cast not to go down with a sinking ship. The stories of the characters themselves simply cannot sustain the film sufficiently, despite the valiant efforts of the cast and the director. It is a somewhat depressing film that is unable to break away from its own inherent torpor. Still, it is worth a rental, if only for the fine performances of this stellar ensemble cast.