THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504240213
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 109 lines
THE THIRD PRESIDENT of the United States, the founding father who most eloquently expressed the ideas of a new, democratic form of government, is one of the more fascinating men in history.
If you didn't learn that in fifth grade, ``Jefferson in Paris'' will do nothing to convince you.
A Hollywood treatment is long overdue; this one, though, is as dull as it is handsome. For looks, especially those scenes inside the Versailles palace outside Paris, it is stunning. For involvement, it goes nowhere.
There is also something ironic in that a movie about the most famous Virginian doesn't have one scene set in Virginia.
Come to think of it, there is something suspicious about the partnership of Merchant-Ivory, the highly respected producer-director team behind ``The Remains of the Day'' and ``Howard's End,'' and the Disney empire. The agreement is the producers would have no interference, even though they have the studio's considerable financial benefits.
Perhaps, but would Merchant-Ivory have cast Nick Nolte as Jefferson and been so meandering and unfocused? One wonders if the Disney influence isn't showing.
Nolte is certainly not the problem; indeed, he turns in a cool, restrained and quite respectable performance as a man who must defend his own philosophy, and do so in a foreign country.
To the film's credit, it discusses the heinous questions of slavery within the context of Jefferson's own time. Nolte works manfully at his task.
One can't say the same for the two women in his life, liaisons that have produced what little controversy this speculative ``history'' has attracted.
Greta Scacchi, as the Italian-born countess Maria Cosway, is a pale and lifeless creature who models exquisite costumes but never really comes alive. This is Jefferson's greatest temptation? The flat characterization is puzzling, considering Scacchi's gift for sexuality in films like ``White Mischief'' and ``Presumed Innocent.''
More a flittery stereotype is Thandie Newton, the Zimbabwean actress assigned the role of Sally Hemings, the infamous teen-age slave who has been the subject of conjecture for researchers and historians for almost two centuries. Her flirting suggests conniving, but she is played in an addled manner that reminds one of Buterfly McQueen's Prissy in ``Gone With the Wind.'' In any case, the affair between Jefferson and Hemings is handled in such an off-handed way that it lacks passion.
Director James Ivory is a specialist in repressed passion, particularly among people in foreign societies. He handled this with great honesty and sincerity in ``Room With a View,'' ``Howard's End,'' and ``The Remains of the Day.'' But ``Jefferson'' is all repression and no passion.
Perhaps the problem is that those other masterworks were based on literary gems, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala doesn't know how to focus material this sweeping when not guided by another author. In any case, the screenplay can't seem to decide whether to concentrate on era or personality. It does better with the era.
The years are 1784-89, the span of Jefferson's service as ambassador to France. He is repulsed by the excesses of the French court but, if we are to believe what we see, spent most of his time in salons rather than in negotiations. In truth, the film is more interesting as a French history lesson.
Marie Antoinette cavorts with her guests as the populace gets more and more hungry for bread. Marquis de Lafayette passes through. Most amusing is a scene in which Dr. Guillotin demonstrates his new invention - the machine that will soon be used on this same crowd. Louis XVI is pictured as more sad than foolish. It's a quite intriguing game of name dropping, as far as it goes.
Gwyneth Paltrow is quite interesting as Jefferson's possessive and intense daughter, Patsy. In its most daring moments, the film lingers on intimate scenes between the two but pulls back from really saying anything about the relationship.
As if to substantiate its claim on the Sally Hemings affair - still unproven in any bona fide court of historical judgment - the film has James Earl Jones portray an 19th century descendant of Tom and Sally in Pike County, Ohio. The sequence makes no dramatic sense.
Historically, there are also mistakes. The age of Patsy is wrong. The presence of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams in Paris is ignored, presumably to strengthen Jefferson's dramatic standing as a man alone.
What this film most lacks is real guts. Speculation, even unfounded speculation, could be excused if it resulted in meaningful, involving drama.
``Jefferson'' results only in one big yawn. Still, with its costumes and grand look, you should go. Just take a nap before sitting through the 2 1/2-hour running time.
Thomas Jefferson deserved better. For that matter, so does the audience. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TOUCHSTONE PICTURES
In ``Jefferson in Paris,'' the alleged affair between Thomas
Jefferson (Nick Nolte) and the slave Sally Hemings (Thandie Newton)
is handled without any passion.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Jefferson in Paris''
Cast: Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, Thandie Newton, Gwyneth Paltrow,
Jean-Pierre Aumont, James Earl Jones, Simon Callow
Director: James Ivory
Screenplay: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Music: Richard Robbins
MPAA rating: PG-13 (no bedroom scenes, but there is a bawdy
puppet show)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Locations: Janaf in Norfolk, Lynnhaven 8 in Virginia Beach.
by CNB