Rated R

on Robin Baitz's long-await-
ed film adaptation of his own
play, The Substance of Fire,
lets the audience in on the
source of the protagonist's unique
form of Holocaust survivor guilt
and rage. Although he lost his
family in the Holocaust, Isaac
Geldhart was never tattooed with
a number or spent so much as a
day in a concentration camp.
Consequently, Geldhart envies
his friend Louis Foukold, who
personally suffered at the hands
of the Nazis, and whose history
of Nazi medical experiments
Geldhart, a New York publisher,
stubbornly intends to publish.
Isaac has no chips in this twist-
ed game, and one realizes that
his irrational determination to
publish Louis' hopelessly un-
commercial four-volume tome is
a misguided attempt to pay off
some imagined debt.
He is on a fool's mission, and
no one can stop him — least of all
his children, and in particular,
his son and partner, Aaron, who
wants to put out a potentially
blockbuster novel written by his
male lover. Eventually, in a

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WISH NEWS

Michael Fox is a California-
based freelance writer.

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THE DETRO

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'Night Falls On Manhattan'

boardroom confrontation, Geld-
While the play was a
hart provokes Aaron and his sib- commentary on the
lings into wresting control of the state of our culture, the
company from him.
movie is more concerned
Fans of the play are in for a with the family drama.
major surprise, as Baitz has en- As a result, it's harder to
tirely rewritten the second half empathize with Isaac
of the story.
now, since his actions to-
The lengthy, poignant conver- ward his children seem
sation between the devastated, the product of calculat-
morose Isaac and the social work- ed maliciousness rather
er sent to evaluate him
than reflective of
has been jettisoned. In-
a commitment
MOVIES
stead, Baitz has expand-
to an admirable
ed the siblings' roles in the
moral position.
story, fleshing out their lives,
The balance is further
loves and frustrations.
tipped because Isaac's
Much like the young David children and the actors
Helfgott in Shine, Geldhart's as- portraying them (Tony
similated offspring suffer for Goldwyn, Sarah Jessica
crimes committed against their Parker and Timothy
father before they were even born Hutton) are lightweights Ron Leibman and Andy Garcia in Night Falls on Manhattan.
— offenses which they can nev- next to Ron Rifkin's
er begin to understand.
Isaac. He knows who he is and
Unfortunately, The Substance what he stands for, and possess-
down a path filled with moral
of Fire is as strewn with flaws as es a gravity (and a cruelty) that
and emotional pitfalls.
it is packed with pithy ideas. Vet- none of his children can approach.
idney Lumet's script opens
Director Lumet has fashioned
eran theater director Daniel Sul-
Melancholy and thought-pro-
in a dingy Manhattan gov- a fantastic script (from Robert
livan makes his debut behind the voking, The Substance of Fire
ernment office where the as- Daley's novel Tainted Evidence)
camera, and he has difficulty lo- prevails nonetheless • with a
sistant to the assistant that is thankfully devoid of most
cating a consistent and fluid pace. tremendously satisfying ending
undersecretary in the D.A.'s of- of the predictable and ridiculous
Claustrophobic and harrowing, of uncommon emotional power.
fice gives a jaded little speech conventions that make up many
the play was a scintillating, beau-
about the thankless,
dramas today. No big speech-
tifully articulated debate between
disturbing and back-
es, no overacting, no over-
morality and commerce, with the
MOVIES
t® ck..) ■ 112 breaking work that
production.
perils of compromise carefully il-
awaits the 30 or so
Andy Garcia, Ian Holm as
luminated.
— Michael Fox law school graduates who sit be- his father, Ron Leibman and
fore him.
Richard Dreyfuss all give Night
Night Falls on Man- Falls on Manhattan added depth
hattan is filled with and emotion, fulfilling the sto-
these bare, dingy sets - ry's character-driven intentions.
and jaded, sometimes Leibman is especially good as
crooked, officials; New Garcia's seasoned, straight-
York City has rarely shooting (and very loud) mentor.
looked so unappealing.
It's the kind of film that
Sean Casey (Andy doesn't get made too often any-
Garcia) is one of those more, even with the rise of in-
law school graduates. dependents. It is true to its ideas
Soft-spoken and ideal- and sincere with its characters,
istic, Casey's future subtle in mood and direction.
opens suddenly when Night Falls on Manhattan is tru-
he is chosen to repre- ly well-written, unglamorous
sent the state in a high and special.
profile case against
a violent drugealer
who, in a suspiciously
botched raid, was re-
— Jeffrey Hermann
sponsible for the deaths
of three cops and the
wounding of another.
The wounded cop hap-
pens to be Casey's fa-
ther.
The elements of that
case — the ideals, the
seemingly hazy ethics,
as well as the people in-
volved — follow Casey

PH

'The Substance Of Fire'

S

Bagel

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)

Tony Goldwyn, Timothy Hutton, Ron Rifkin and Sarah Jessica Parker star in the long-awaited The Substance of Fire.

Jeffrey Hermann is
associate editor at
Visible Ink Press.

No

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