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	A Home At The End Of The World
	Michael Mayer Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts, Sissy Spacek, Erik Smith, Harris Allan, Matt Frewer, Wendy Crewson, Ryan Donowho, Andrew Chalmers, Ron Lea 2004		Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham ("The Hours") wrote the script for the film version of his 1990 novel "A Home at the End of the World," so there's no one else to blame if it doesn't do justice to the book. He has little need to fret. Directed by Michael Mayer, "A Home at the End of the World" is an unusual romantic drama about Bobby, a sweet hard-luck kid who survives terrible adversity, reaches adulthood and finds himself in a non-traditional love triangle with best friend Jonathan and older woman Clare. It could've been saccharine or cloying. Instead, it's a truly moving story that spans three decades and shifts locales from suburban Cleveland in the '60s to New York City and points north in the '80s, with a side trip to the Southwest. Each era is effectively evoked. The character arcs are well forged by a wow-inducing cast. Vibrant leading man Colin Farrell plays counter to his rowdy reputation as the needy Bobby; Robin Wright Penn is the flighty, avant-garde Clare; Dallas Roberts is hyper-sensitive Jonathan; Sissy Spacek is Jonathan's big-hearted mother. Erik Smith and Harris Allan as Bobby and Jonathan at age 15 are uncannily like the characters as adults, and vice versa. Farrell's work is a particular revelation, even under a distracting, shaggy wig that he wears before Clare tidies Bobby's appearance with a haircut. Viewer alert: Hankies may be required by the final reel.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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