MAMET'S `WINSLOW BOY' VERSION SUFFERS FROM STIFFNESS.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic David Mamet Noun 1. David Mamet - United States playwright (born in 1947) Mamet has opened up Terence Rattigan's 1946 drawing room play ``The Winslow Boy'' for the screen, but he hasn't done a very smart job of it. We still get major plot points - including the climactic one - reported back to the main house set rather than dramatized on screen. Meanwhile, some of the other locations adapter-director Mamet chooses to show us - an honor guard barracks bar·rack 1 tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters. n. 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. , a suffragette office - seem like unnecessary wastes of what was obviously a limited budget. Why not more courtroom footage for what is, among other things, a legal drama? Why not a fascinating gauntlet of the Edwardian equivalent of paparazzi pa·pa·raz·zo n. pl. pa·pa·raz·zi A freelance photographer who doggedly pursues celebrities to take candid pictures for sale to magazines and newspapers. , who we're told are laying siege to the Winslow home but barely glimpse? The bottom line is, ``The Winslow Boy'' is still more like a filmed play than an organically unfolding movie. Based on an actual, pre-World War I incident - names were changed, perhaps to protect the very easily upset - the play chronicles an apparently controversial incident in which a young British naval cadet was accused of stealing a classmate's five-shilling postal note an order payable to bearer, for a sum of money (in the United States less than five dollars under existing law), issued from one post office and payable at another specified office. See also: Postal . Expelled for the unthinkable act (the fact that times have violently changed doesn't help a modern audience appreciate the fine moral issues at stake here), 13-year-old Ronnie Winslow (Guy Edwards Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards (born in Macclesfield, Cheshire on December 30, 1942) is a former racing driver from England. Although best known for his sportscar and UK Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship ) returns in shame to his banker father's modest yet comfortable home. Patriarch Arthur (Nigel Hawthorne Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne, CBE (5 April, 1929 – 26 December, 2001) was a renowned English actor. Biography Early life He was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, although he grew up in South Africa, where he was educated by the Christian Brothers. ), mum Grace (Gemma Jones Gemma Jones (born December 4, 1942) is an English character actress on both stage and screen. Jones was born Jennifer Jones in London, England to Irene (Isaac) and Griffith Jones, an actor.[1] Her brother, Nicholas Jones is also an actor. ) and betrothed sister Catherine (Rebecca Pidgeon, a k a Mrs. Mamet) Winslow all believe Ronnie's assertion that he did not commit the crime. Jump ahead a few months, and Arthur's turned the case into a very public cause celebre, generating rallies, cartoons, popular songs and knickknacks in support of both sides of the issue. Due to complicated aspects of British law that are explained ... and explained ... throughout the show, the Winslows must turn to the star barrister of the era, Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), just to get the consarned argument out of the House of Commons House of Commons: see Parliament. (which we see) and into the courthouse (which we barely see), where it belongs. Amid all the royal legalizing is an intelligent examination of family honor, loyalty and the price paid - both socially and psychologically - to secure their satisfaction. Catherine's nuptials are jeopardized by the scandal, as are the Winslows' financial fortunes. And in a near-great performance, Hawthorne (``The Madness of King George'') ages Arthur at an accelerated rate through the trying proceedings while making the man question every motive he could possess, except for his devotion to his son. Of course, the kid could be lying about the whole thing. Many have wondered why Mamet, whose own plays (``Glengarry Glen Ross,'' ``Speed-the-Plow'') wallow wallow mud bath frequented by pigs, elephants, red deer, hippopotami as a cooling aid. in verbal and spiritual degradation, would be interested in Rattigan's ultra-polite work. But there are various degrees of deception and gamesmanship games·man·ship n. 1. The art or practice of using tactical maneuvers to further one's aims or better one's position: operating in ``The Winslow Boy,'' certainly not to the depth and extent that they run through Mamet's tricky original work, but enough to make the playwright's interest understandable. Understandable, but not necessarily infectious. There's a starched quality to the movie that comes from numerous sources, not the least of which is Mamet's own, somewhat hidebound hidebound said of skin that is not easily lifted from the subcutaneous tissue. Occurs in emaciated animals because of the absence of fat and connective tissue rather than absence of fluid. way with a movie camera. He's written fine adaptations of others' plays before - check out his Chekhov, wondrously preserved in Louis Malle's film ``Vanya on 42nd Street.'' But ``The Winslow Boy'' could have benefited from a different hand at the helm. THE FACTS The film: ``The Winslow Boy'' (G). The stars: Nigel Hawthorne, Jeremy Northam, Rebecca Pidgeon, Gemma Jones, Guy Edwards. Behind the scenes: Written and directed by David Mamet, based on the play by Terence Rattigan. Produced by Sarah Green. Released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: One hour, 50 minutes. Playing: Town Center 5, Encino; Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Royal, West Los Angeles
Our rating: Two and one half stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Banker Arthur Winslow (Nigel Hawthorne) and 13-year-old son Ronnie (Guy Edwards) maintain that the boy did not commit the crime of which he is accused in ``The Winslow Boy.'' |
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