AMBITIOUS ‘ADORATION’ IS EASY TO ADMIRE, HARD TO WORSHIP
Mark Hinson
Tallahassee.com
August 14, 2009
Del.icio.usFacebookDiggRedditNewsvineBuzz up!TwitterArmenian-Canadian
director Atom Egoyan is not exactly a snuggly, huggable filmmaker –
and that’s OK.
He is an artful stylist whose movies are tightly controlled and usually
have an air of emotional removal. Think of "The Sweet Hereafter"
(1997), his smart adaptation of a Russell Banks book that methodically
told the story of the fallout after a school bus full of kids plunged
into an icy body of water.
Yeah, the guy ain’t cheery.
In his latest film, "Adoration," Egoyan carefully constructs a social
drama about fear, religious intolerance, racism and terrorism as
if he were the brightest kid in class putting together an elaborate
display for the state science fair. "Adoration" is smart, well-acted
and daring, but does everything add up in the end?
The story really starts in a Toronto high school where a teenager
named Simon (Devon Bostick) is coached to write a first-person essay
after hearing his French teacher (Arsinee Khanjian) read a news story
about a thwarted terrorist plot in Israel. The assignment quickly
snowballs into something else.
Simon claims his late father was a terrorist who once plotted to
blow up a passenger jet to Israel in a very despicable manner. When
Simon’s paper/confession hits the Web, the banter in the chat rooms
goes profane and ballistic.
Most of the incendiary cyber-chat is unnoticed, at first, by Simon’s
guardian and uncle Tom (Scott Speedman). Tom is a tow-truck driver who
moved from the country to the big city to care for his nephew following
a family tragedy. The financially frustrated Tom is also not completely
comfortable with his new Middle Eastern neighbors in the wake of 9/11.
To make matters worse, Tom was the family underachiever. His sister
was a music prodigy and concert violinist who was worshiped by Tom’s
wealthy father (Kenneth Welsh), who is seen in flashbacks. Even
though the old man is dead, Tom is haunted by his self-perceived
failure. No wonder he’s so crabby and rude when his Middle Eastern
neighbor – covered from head to toe in traditional ethnic garb –
steps on his lawn to admire a hand-made Nativity scene. (Hey, the
film is called "Adoration," so the Wise Men and the Baby Jesus had
to show up somewhere, right?) At many points, the plot feels like
Egoyan is moving chess pieces – rather than real humans – around to
make his point(s). It’s all very calculated and as cold as Toronto,
which Egoyan makes look as colorless as fellow Canadian director
David Cronenberg does in his movies. Yet, when it’s over, it’s all not
nearly as complicated as it once seemed. And maybe that’s the point?
When "Adoration" was shown in competition at the Cannes Film Festival
way back in 2008, it brought home the Ecumenical Jury Prize. That’s
a special honor given to films about "the spiritual dimension of
our existence."
Egoyan, by the way, was named Atom in honor of Egypt’s first nuclear
plant.