Shariq’s Département

What a waste of acting talent!  Frances McDormand, a fantastic actress (Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There), gives a quietly feminist turn in this extremely boring, dated Clifford Odets play, which should not have been revived on Broadway.

McDormand is fierce and delivers her lines with her trademark restrained intelligence.  Her voice is strong and has a strong theatre presence.  Two problems mar the result.  First, the play has dialog which is so pedestrian you wonder why Mike Nichols would ever have directed it.  The plot, about whether an alcoholic actor (Morgan Freeman) will be able to headline a new play is very bare.  Odets is know for character-driven plays, which would seem to have been perfect for actors of McDormand’s and Freeman’s caliber. 

But this leads us to our second problem.  McDormand does not get adequate support to sustain interest from her co-stars.  Morgan Freeman, a dyanamo-presence in film (Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby), seems muted here.  Although the part requires him to be unsure of himself and dissembling, in doing so, he seems to mislay the acting chops that normally make him so great.  As a result, the interactions between Frances and Morgan seem lacking, without any real connection or tension.  Also, the other main character of Bernie Dodd, the director, is over-acted by Peter Gallagher (sex, lies and videotape, The Player).  The plot hinges on his inability to see the truth about the real relationship between Freeman and McDormand, but Gallagher is never really able to convince the audience why he believes Freeman and his lies over McDormand’s fire.  Of course, he could have been helped by better lines.

The only interesting scene occurs towards the end of the play, in the middle of the final act when Freeman’s drunken lies are exposed and Gallagher apologizes to McDormand, and manipulates her by playing on the lack of sex in her life.  Here, for once, the sparks fly between the actors, and things seem interesting.  But it is too late, and, beside, Odets quickly fast-forwards to a forced ending that seems unsure how to honestly explore the new romantic dynamic between McDormand and Gallagher.

Go see it only if you are a die-hard Frances McDormand or Morgan Freeman fan.  Otherwise, you will find yourself regretting wasting your time and money.