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Atom Egoyan's Adoration is at least two films in one (arguably more) but they don’t quite come together into anything approaching a cohesive vision and the talented screenwriter/director loses track of the more interesting narrative in a final act that devolves into uninteresting melodrama. And, yet, I still kind of liked Adoration. There are so many interesting ideas in the first two acts of the film, which feel more like the Egoyan who made waves with the excellent Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter, that it's easier to forgive the final act, which feels far too much like the twisting and turning Where the Truth Lies. It may be hard for me to defend Adoration to its bitter end, but I will always go to bat for a writer/director this overflowing with ideas that he simply loses track of how to turn them into an interesting climax.
The first two acts of Adoration are about the power of thought and controversy to provoke both ideological and physical reaction. A young man named Simon (David Bostick) is given a translation exercise by his French teacher Sabine (Arsinee Khanjian) that details the story of a foiled plane bombing. A man planted a bomb in his pregnant girlfriend's luggage. With his parents having died in a controversial accident years earlier, Simon takes on the story of the potential mass murder as his own. The man was his father and the woman was his mother with Simon in her womb. Not only did his father try to kill hundreds to make a political statement through terrorism, but he tried to kill his unborn son.
Of course, none of it is true. Through the support of his French teacher, who also happens to be the school drama teacher, Simon works his false history into an uproar. His friends are in near-constant communication with him via webcam. Passengers on the plane contact Simon. And it opens doors into the real mystery surrounding the death of Simon's parents (Rachel Blanchard and Noam Jenkins), who died in a mysterious car accident years earlier. Scott Speedman plays Simon's uncle, the voice of reason between Simon's real past and the one most supportive of his future.
It's impossible to not read Adoration as at least partially self-reflective. It's about someone examining their own history through a false one. Countless filmmakers have done the exact same thing. And there are parts of Adoration that suggest that perhaps this is not a healthy or particularly good idea. At what point does creative revisionism cross into hate speech or something akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater? I practically loved this movie but Egoyan loses his way in the final act, making the mistake of thinking that what really happened to Simon's parents is of dramatic importance. It's not. The ideas are far more powerful than the reality.
Having said that, I'm always going to be something of an apologist for a filmmaker like Egoyan, someone so true to his characters and his concepts that he sometimes doesn't know how to manage them into a completely successful screenplay. It should also be noted that Speedman does easily the best work of his career and Egoyan works well with the entire ensemble. They all feel very believable even during some of the arguably over-written philosophical discussions that dominate the first half. With a slew of CGI blockbusters that don't require any brain power at all this season, even if Adoration is only half-successful, it's still worth a look.
Rating: THREE BONES
Release Date: May 22nd, 2009
Rating: R
Starring: Arsinee Khanjian, Rachel Blanchard, Scott Speedman, Devon Bostick, and Kenneth Welsh.
Director: Atom Egoyan
Writer: Atom Egoyan
Of course, none of it is true. Through the support of his French teacher, who also happens to be the school drama teacher, Simon works his false history into an uproar. His friends are in near-constant communication with him via webcam. Passengers on the plane contact Simon. And it opens doors into the real mystery surrounding the death of Simon's parents (Rachel Blanchard and Noam Jenkins), who died in a mysterious car accident years earlier. Scott Speedman plays Simon's uncle, the voice of reason between Simon's real past and the one most supportive of his future.
It's impossible to not read Adoration as at least partially self-reflective. It's about someone examining their own history through a false one. Countless filmmakers have done the exact same thing. And there are parts of Adoration that suggest that perhaps this is not a healthy or particularly good idea. At what point does creative revisionism cross into hate speech or something akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater? I practically loved this movie but Egoyan loses his way in the final act, making the mistake of thinking that what really happened to Simon's parents is of dramatic importance. It's not. The ideas are far more powerful than the reality.
Having said that, I'm always going to be something of an apologist for a filmmaker like Egoyan, someone so true to his characters and his concepts that he sometimes doesn't know how to manage them into a completely successful screenplay. It should also be noted that Speedman does easily the best work of his career and Egoyan works well with the entire ensemble. They all feel very believable even during some of the arguably over-written philosophical discussions that dominate the first half. With a slew of CGI blockbusters that don't require any brain power at all this season, even if Adoration is only half-successful, it's still worth a look.
Rating: THREE BONES
Reviewed by Brian Tallerico (MovieRetriever.com Film Critic)
Release Date: May 22nd, 2009
Rating: R
Starring: Arsinee Khanjian, Rachel Blanchard, Scott Speedman, Devon Bostick, and Kenneth Welsh.
Director: Atom Egoyan
Writer: Atom Egoyan
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