Despite its admirable feminist intents, DENIAL is a pretentious and desperately misjudged psychological drama.
Loon (Robin Wright) is a modern young woman bored with her upper-middle-class marriage to Jay (Barry Primus) and frustrated by her attempts to raise his adolescent daughter Sid (Christine Harnos). The arrival of her old friend Julie (Rae Dawn Chong) for a visit plunges Loon into reliving her
past, tempestuous relationship with the sexy, free-spirited Michael (Jason Patric), which ended with her refusal to leave her secure small-town existence and take a chance at an unpredictable life with him. Loon is supposedly a teacher--she's singlehandedly building a school in her spacious
suburban backyard--but from the look of things she could only be teaching advanced depression, as her mounting despair over the rejected opportunity for happiness and fulfillment propels her to a complete breakdown.
The screenplay by Erin Dignam, who also directed DENIAL and has clearly seen too many Resnais films, is filled with interminable talk about truth and identity, resulting in a meandering, often dull, sometimes embarrassing film that mistakes ennui for enigma. A fine cast, all of whom have
performed capably in other films, look a bit lost here, and Dignam is unable to make the film look like more than a disconnected series of acting exercises. Much of the running time is devoted to flashbacks detailing Loon and Michael's white-hot love affair, but there's no chemistry whatsoever
between Wright and Patric.
Filmed in Willits, California, this low-budget production is handsomely served by the dependable cinematographer Reynaldo Villalobos (DESERT BLOOM, THE RUNNING MAN, MAJOR LEAGUE) and carries an end-title dedication to co-producer Martina Ritt's late father, esteemed director Martin Ritt.
(Nudity.) leave a comment
