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A Separate Peace

2004, Movie, R, 92 mins

A Separate Peace: Review

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A philosophical mystery, a parable and a coming-of-age story: John Fowles' classic novel is all those things, as well as a literary entity that resists successful transfer to the screen. In 1943, the prestigious Devon Academy still prepares young men for college life, but WWII has made the molding of good little soldiers a matter of paramount importance. Until graduation, the tony school cocoons over-achievers like Brinker (Jacob Pitts), athletic stars like Finny (Toby Moore) and science nerds like Leper (Danny Swerdlow), children of privilege who stick together and leave scholarship students like Gene (J. Barton) feeling trapped in the role of perpetual outsider. Finny, however, is brimming with bonhomie and embraces transfer-student Gene, his new roommate, without an iota of class consciousness. Whereas everything comes easily to popular Finny, a rebellious golden boy who never hesitates to cut class or indulge in forbidden exploits like diving into a lake from a nearby tree (a seniors-only activity), the envious Gene has to crack the books. Although he basks in Finny's attention, Gene nonetheless resents his best friend's charisma. Peeved that Finny takes him for granted, the tightly-wound Gene succumbs to an impulse; he shakes the tree branch so that Finny loses his balance. The subsequent fall, which leaves Finny lame, ends his promising athletic career. Simultaneously, WWII, which the boys have naively regarded as an opportunity for glory, encroaches on Devon. Leper is one of the first enlisted men from Devon Academy, and winds up sneaking back to campus after he washes out of the military; unable to move on with his life, he dwells furtively in the woods near the dorms. When cornered, Leper makes an accusation about Finny's "accident." Finny leaps to his buddy's defense; acknowledging Gene's perfidy may be too painful a truth for him to handle. Best treated as a Cliff's Notes version a book regularly turns up on high school required-reading lists, this interpretation smothers the ambiguity of its source material. It's better acted than the flawed 1972 version, but the earlier effort better evoked the story's suppressed homoeroticism. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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