rand

About Tom * Chick Reid * Gallery * Interviews * Films * TV Theatre * FAQ * About Ground Control * Contact Info * Links

The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999)

Director: Christopher Menaul

Writer: Howard Korder & Mary Gallagher

Cast: Helen Mirren, Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy, Peter Fonda

Character: Richard Bolger

Billing: 6th

Plot: A biopic of the philosopher Ayn Rand, from the point of view of a young devotee, with whose husband Rand begins an ill-fated affair. Meanwhile, the narrator herself starts a relationship decidedly not in line with Rand's teachings.

Review: Perhaps this review would have turned out markedly different if, when watching the film, I had had more than a vague idea of who Ayn Rand was and what her philosophies might possibly have been. However, as films, even when dealing with fairly specialist subjects, generally assume that the audience needs a bit of a recap, I (probably wisely) rejected the temptation to read her books beforehand. As a result, most of the film's storyline, concerning the definition and morals of love, seemed both pretentious and flimsy where it should have been thought-provoking and more in line with the uniformly excellent performances of the main cast.

Mirren, saddled with an idiosyncratic persona, would do well simply not to sink into parody, but Rand remains human, albeit eccentric, throughout. Stoltz too is appropriately anguished and earnest, but since the film gives no real idea what they might possibly be so worried about, their intensity is somewhat lost. Fortunately there are characters within this ideological plot who seem similarly bemused - Julie Delpy as Barbara Branden, the narrator, who sits on the fence for most of the film, and is well matched up with McCamus, playing a trumpeter who doesn't know what's going on and has, like, I suspect, most of the audience by the time he turns up, decided not to care. Tom plays Richard as having much more depth than the script gives him credit for, and his dose of humour is welcome amidst the seminar-like feel of the rest of the film, but he's simply not in enough scenes to be an effective presence. The top acting honours, therefore, go to Peter Fonda as Rand's long-suffering husband, and boy does he suffer. I might check out Rand's work after seeing this film, just to figure out what so enthused this great bunch of actors to give their all in the first place, but not because of the content, which was largely pretty dull stuff, however hard they tried.

Trivia: Tom's character is based on real person Robert Berole. Don McKellar directed and starred in Last Night.