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Common Ground

2000, Movie, R, 104 mins

Common Ground: Review

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This neatly packaged collection of stories by three major playwrights — Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive), Terrence McNally (Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune) and Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy) — stumbles under the weight of its ambitious sociological scope. But it deserves credit for examining the two-sided coin of homophobia and patriotism. In the first story, set during the Korean War, impressionable WAVE Dorothy Nelson (Brittany Murphy) gets drummed out of the service on a section eight. Although her crime merely entailed a first-time visit to a gay bar, hypocritical superior officer McPherson, (Mimi Rogers) — who's fearful of having her own lesbianism revealed — orders Dorothy's dismissal. When word spreads through her hometown of Homer, CT, Dorothy faces her mother's rejection and ostracism by her neighbors, as well the kind intervention of waitress Janet (Helen Shaver). In episode two, set in the 1970s, closeted French teacher Mr. Roberts (Steven Weber), dreams of becoming principal of Homer's high school. But the ongoing persecution of a bright, homosexual student named Toby (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) forces Roberts to re-examine his goals. Despite Toby's championship status on the swim team, he can't overcome the prejudice generated by his sexual identity. Will Mr. Roberts jeopardize his promotion by coming to Toby's defense after Toby willfully loses at the big swim meet? In the third, present-day saga, military veteran Ira (Ed Asner) organizes a public protest against the wedding ceremony of his gay son, Amos (Jamie LeGros). Has Homer's small-town narrow-mindedness softened with the passage of time? Ira must choose between embracing his son's commitment or joining the hecklers to prove a hateful point. This smartly crafted, all-star event, which presents life lessons in a historical context, shows how same sex intolerance has taken many forms. Although the film hits its targets too bluntly, it effectively chronicles the evolving nature of homophobia and deftly uses the device of an everyman narrator (Eric Stolz, whose family tends the town's flag) to mirror changing perceptions. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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