Review of The Cider House Rules (1999) by Cindy C — 16 Jun 2012

Lasse Hallström's adaptation of John Irving's novel is a comfortably old-fashioned style weepy. Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire) is an orphan who spent his entire childhood at the St. Cloud Orphanage in Maine, where he had a father figure in Dr.

Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine, in an Oscar-winning role). Under the care of the doctor, Homer becomes a protege of delivering babies, as well as giving abortions. Upon the arrival of two good-looking people at the orphanage for an abortion, Candy Kendall (Charlize Theron) and Wally Worthington (Paul Rudd), Homer leaves the orphanage and goes with them to the a village in Maine where Wally's family has an apple orchard business, much to the dismay of Dr.

Larch. Of course, it's the days of World War II, and Wally ships back off to war to fly planes, and Homer and Candy begin a secret love affair. Where Irving's novel is, I imagine, chock full of deep themes and ideas, Hallström's film glosses over these ideas, and doesn't choose to linger on much of anything.

It's a touching film, at times, very touching, but it's all a bit too simple in the end. It's no matter, however. The performances are uniformly solid. Maguire is a good straight man to the colorful characters around him.

Theron, gorgeous as ever, gets a chance to show off her noteworthy dramatic chops here. Delroy Lindo, Erykah Badu, Jane Alexander, and Kathy Baker are all very good as well. Caine won his second Academy Award for this film, and it's a fine performance to win for.

Not particularly showy, it's a quiet and restrained performance, and clearly the work of a master. Rachel Portman's score is divine (if a tiny bit overbearing at times), and the cinematography is deliciously old-fashioned, but in the end it all feels a bit too Miramax.