and mutters, too hooked on her thera-
peutic fairy tale of happiness to look
hard for the truth. She distrusts the
truth-teller or, at least, — guesser:
Oliver's dad, Martyn, a doctor played
by Martin Donovan (American, the
best performer in Portrait of a Lady,
and again excellent). Martyn adores
his son in the most fatherly way, but
‘– he is living with a man.
Martyn came to his gayness abrupt-
ly after marriage and fatherhood, and
feels guilt. This situation — "dicey," as
the British say — minimizes his
chance of winning custody or even
being listened to clearly. Hannah bris-
tles with gender rage, and the devious
Frank — himself a victim of childhood
, abuse — is a reflexive homophobe.
The film is candid about sex, but is
more valuably candid about what it
means to be a child in the midst of
ripped-up adults. The dialogue is a lit-
de too short and lean. The English
tend to be articulate, voluble people,
and I couldn't fathom why these
bright adults — including Martyn's
lover, finely played by Ian Hart (John
Lennon in Backbeat) — are so tersely
telegraphic. They're terribly wound-
up, sure, but the story needs more fuss
and spew.
Sort of a British reversal of Kramer
vs. Kramer, Hollow Reed would have
been a TV movie in America (and was
funded largely by TV sources).
Despite a tidy structure, the actors lift
it on spruce hairs of skill above social-
message drama. The makers (mostly
female, including director Angela Pope
and the producer, writer, editor and
composer) are impeccably adroit with
nuances, and though they make us
dislike Frank, easily, they do not make
him a typecast villain.
The core is Oliver, in Bould's
hushed, grave performance. His eyes
are deer on the run. He reminded
me of Ivan Jandl in The Search, and
the almost mute ghetto child in the
great documentary The Quiet One.
Silence can speak volumes, and that
of Oliver is a deeply whispering text.
Unrated.
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