DVD Empire Falls
Digital Life Average Rating:

Rating: - Wonderful Cast & Story -- Don't Miss!
Missed this when it originally aired on HBO. Living in Maine, I had to see it. It follows the book very well, which BTW is also a good read.

The cast of Empire makes Russo's novel come to life. Ed Harris as Miles Roby is just how you'd picture him. Many memorable scenes by Joanne Woodward (Francine Whiting) and Paul Newman (Max Roby) add just the right amount of humor. The other actors play their roles convincingly. Helen Hunt's character reminds me a bit of Carol in As Good as it Gets. Dennis Farina, Aidan Quinn, Danielle Panabaker and many others round out the cast and make this a truly enjoyable movie. It is presented in Chapters, and at times is narrated.

I highly recommend this movie. And, if you're ever passing through Skowhegan, Maine, look for the Empire Grill, complete with the indian sign out front.

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Rating: - The book is so much better
Sometimes movies measure up to books, as in Somerset Maugham's The Painted Veil. Sometimes movies may be even better than padded and chatty novels, as for example in Oblomov. But in the present case, the movie version of Empire Falls is all wrong. As one reviewer has already pointed out, the movie is too sunny whereas the book is dark, pessimistic, and sometimes despairing. The slow, maudlin music is distracting and misleading. The views are boring. And the pace of the whole thing is painfully slow and stupifying. The book has the depth of a Dostoevsky; the movie does its best to flatten and sentimentalize the plot and the characters. For example, an important aspect of Miles's personality is that he is a reader, and that's what he so much enjoyed in college: "He hadn't been a college freshman for more than a few weeks before deciding that this was where he belonged, among people who loved books and art and music..." (390) I can not figure out why this line was omitted from the script. Another one of the most moving passages in the book also fell flat in the movie. I am referring to Miles' thoughts after the shooting at the school, when he passed by his daughter and didn't see her at first. This is what torments him later: "Wasn't there something in a father, he asked himself, some extra sense, that should've told him right where she'd be? Wasn't she his only daughter? A better father would've been able to find her blind-folded, in the dark, attracted by the invisible beacon of her suffering" (454). Nothing of this eloquence, this richness, this love came across in the movie. Ed Harris, an actor I admire, was the wrong choice for Miles. He failed to portray Miles's depth, intelligence, and layers of insight and generosity. He just stood there, without a subtext, not knowing what to do with himself, how to bring this complex character to life. Of course, there's also the director who failed to see how slow and boring his production had become. Paul Newman, as Miles's father, was not half as crazy and wild as he should have been according to Russo's book, and Joanne Woodward was not half as evil as she is in the book. Only Helen Hunt, in my opinion, lived up to her fictive role. How disappointing! But most disappointing of all is the fact that Russo himself wrote the script for this production, which missed many of his own best lines; he also participated actively in its creation. Why? Why? I can't figure this out. Why did he choose to cheapen, simplify, and deaden his own great work? Was it a temptation he could not resist?

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Rating: - The Stories from a Small Town
"Empire Falls" (2005) is a screen adaptation of Richard Russo Pulitzer prize winning novel of the same title. It is a multi character drama that takes place in a small town Empire Falls, Maine. In its center if Miles Roby (Ed Harris) who manages the local restaurant, "Empire Grill" that belongs to a wealthy and powerful widow Mrs. Whiting. The film concerns Miles's re-evaluating his life and searching for answers to the difficult questions. In his search, he looks back at his childhood, his relationship with his mother and the connection between her life and Whitings family. Miles also has to deal with the problems of those close to him: his father Max (Paul Newman stole the show with his performance as a prodigal father), his teenage daughter Tick, his ex-wife Janine, and many more. Based on the first-rate writing, the film is masterfully shot and extremely well acted story of a small and forgotten town with no future.

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Rating: - Now this is an acting clinic
Ed Harris and Paul Newman are both amazing here. I know Newman won the Emmy and the Golden Globe, but Ed Harris really made this film for me. Not only was this one of his best performances, but I also liked his character the most. Everyone else in the cast is very good as well, especially the almost too cute Danielle Panabaker as the daughter.

The movie took a little time to pull me in, but once that relaxed "small town" pacing got a hold of me, I wasn't able to look away.