"The Patron Saint of Liars" Film Review
Oct 20 '03
The Bottom Line "The Patron Saint of Liars" is a good film from Stephen Gyllenhaal about morals despite some over-the-top melodrama. (3 out of 5).
Given to my recent obsession with the Gyllenhaal sibling of Jake and Maggie, it is now time to focus on another Gyllenhaal. The duo’s father and director Stephen Gyllenhaal, a respected TV film director who has made some acclaimed television films like “Paris Trout” and “A Killing in a Small Town” along with television shows like “The Shield”, “Homicide” and an episode of David Lynch’s cult-TV masterpiece, “Twin Peaks”. Gyllenhaal has also scored a fair amount of acclaim in full feature-length films like “Waterland”, “Homegrown”, “A Dangerous Woman”, and his most-well known work to date, “Losing Isaiah” that included an adapted screenplay from his wife Naomi Foner, the Golden Globe-winning screenwriter for “Running on Empty”. In 1998, Stephen Gyllenhaal does another TV film with longtime contributor Dana Delany for the TV-drama “The Patron Saint of Liars”
“The Patron Saint of Liars” is about a young woman in 1981 who leaves her husband while being 2-months pregnant with a child as she retreats to a strict, Catholic house as she meets a sympathetic nun and a carpenter while trying to hide from her past for the next fifteen years. Based on the novel by Ann Patchett and adapted into a script by Lynn Roth, the film is really about a woman questioning her own faith and past while dealing with an idyllic family life. With a cast that includes Delany, Clancy Brown, Sada Thompson, John Putch, Marissa Ribisi, Ellen Burstyn, and a then-unknown Maggie Gyllenhaal, the film seems like a good TV drama. Unfortunately, it’s a melodramatic chick-flick film with its usual dramatic overtones although Stephen Gyllenhaal brings in some strong moments for the film. While it’s not a great movie, “The Patron Saint of Liars” is a somewhat decent TV drama.
The first five minutes of the film begins with a story set in 1925 where a man is trying to find help for his sick daughter when he came across a geyser where he brought his daughter and some strange sort of miracle occurs as his daughter recovers. The film then fast-forwards in 1981 as a woman named Rose Cleardon (Dana Delany) is leaving her husband due to an unhappy marriage. She turns to her local priest where she seeks guidance and is trying to find a place away from her home in California. She finds a retreat in a small, idyllic Catholic house for pregnant women in the outskirts of Kentucky. She meets up with the strict leader of the house Mother Corrine (Jill Gasocoine) where Rose tells her that her husband is dead. Corrine believes her story as she rooms with another young pregnant woman named Angie (Marissa Ribisi) as she too, lied about having a dead husband just to get in the place.
Rose finds peace in the home as she meets the house’ calm, friendly carpenter Son (Clancy Brown) who she falls for and finds sympathy with Sister Evangeline (Sada Thompson) who she works with at the kitchen. Rose often talks about her question of faith with Evangeline who is much looser than Mother Corrine while she meets a brash, hard-nosed farmer June Clatterbuck (Ellen Burstyn). June owns the land including the geyser as she talks about the house and how it all went downhill with Corrine becoming the house leader. Rose finds out about the strict upbringing when she, Angie, and Sister Evangeline help a fellow patron give birth to a child but Corrine refuses to have the baby be in care of the mother. Rose seeks comfort from Son who she eventually marries.
When Angie leaves after her birth, Rose seeks help from June, Son, and Evangeline as they prepared for Rose giving birth to her daughter Cecilia away from the strict house. With Rose still working in the house and kitchen with Evangeline and Son doing the carpentry work at the house, June helps raise Cecilia till she dies when Cecilia was five. The film moves fast forward ten years later where Cecilia (now played by Nancy Moore Atchison) helps her mother work at the kitchen with Sister Evangeline and live in June’s old house. Rose however, decides to live in Son’s old house for private reasons as Cecilia begins to question about her mother’s past. Cecilia meets a young pregnant teen named Lorraine Thomas (Maggie Gyllenhaal) as they work in the kitchen as Cecilia bonds with her mother about a bit of her past. After a carpentry accident where Son received a bad cut in his head, Cecilia and Lorraine drive Son to the hospital as more questions brew.
Finally, Rose’s past catches up with her as her first husband Thomas (John Putch) is coming to town to tell Rose some news. Rose hides away from the home as Cecilia learns some truths and revelations while Rose is forced to deal with the things in her past.
While the film’s script does bring questions of value and faith, it’s melodramatic tone gives the film a somewhat bland, uninspiring tone to the film as it dwells a lot into the typical textures of a chick-flick TV drama film. Stephen Gyllenhaal does bring some excellent scenes into the film but couldn’t help save the script from its overly dramatic tone while it just tries to hard on being a film to think about along with its issues on Catholicism. Dana Delany brings a good performance to the film as she plays a woman struggling with her own past while in a few scenes, she gets a bit overdramatic in some spots. Clancy Brown brings a heartwarming performance as Son that is inspiring in some cases, especially since some might know him for villainous roles like “Pet Semetary 2". Ellen Burstyn’s performance in the film is excellent but the only problem was it was very underused in the film since she’s only in the film for twenty minutes and there wasn’t a lot to know about her.
The supporting performances of the film do have some shining moments that make the film worth watching. Sada Thompson as Sister Evangeline is a joy to watch since she does bring in some much-needed humor to the movie as well as questions of values and faith where she plays a good voice of reason for Delany’s character. Marisa Ribisi is another standout in the film as Angie although she disappears right before the first half ends. Nancy Moore Atchison brings an excellent performance as the older Cecilia where she stands out as a daughter trying to learn more about her mom. The smaller performances Jill Gasocoine and John Putch are well utilized while Maggie Gyllenhaal’s small role as Cecilia’s friend is stand out since she cracks a few jokes in the film while dealing with her upcoming pregnancy as this role would help her craft in the films to come with help from her dad.
“The Patron Saint of Liars” is a decent TV drama with some good performances from Delany, Brown, Atchison, Thompson, and Burstyn. The film could be seen usually on Lifetime Movie Networks or any channel where they show dramatic chick-flicks. What makes it standout is in its performances and Stephen Gyllenhaal’s direction although the script needs to be reworked for more humanistic reasons. Fans of Maggie Gyllenhaal though would get a kick out of the film for one of her early film roles and bad hair dye. In the end, “The Patron Saint of Liars” is a film for chick-flick lovers although some parts will be boring.
Related Gyllenhaal Reviews:
The Photographer (2000):
http://www.epinions.com/content_106475458180
The Good Girl (2002):
http://www.epinions.com/content_112392703620
Homegrown (1998):
http://www.epinions.com/content_113556950660
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
thevoid99
|
 - Top 100 |
|
Member: Steven Flores
Location: Smyrna, Georgia
Reviews written: 1449
Trusted by: 431 members
About Me:
R.I.P. Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.