Review of Oleanna (1994) by Colin F — 10 Jun 2009
Debra Eisenstadt ruins a very well written and provocative play about a student-teacher relationship and how miss-communication and removing context can spiral out of control. The limits and dangers of both teacher's rights and powers and on the limits and dangers of political correctness form the central debate of this play, but unfortunately the film version is flawed.
Eisenstadt's poor performance undermines our investment in her character so that by the shocking ending, instead of being provoked into reflection and stunned into silence, we are provoked into cheers and stunned that it didn't happen sooner.
William H. Macy is still amazing though, and manages to carry the movie fairly effectively, but what happened to Rebecca Pidgeon? Read the play, skip the movie.
This review of Oleanna (1994) was written by Colin F on 10 Jun 2009.
Oleanna has generally received positive reviews.
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