Review of The Crucible (1996) by Nathan C — 26 Sep 2011

"The Crucible" was a dumb, ridiculous film that somehow managed to be taken seriously. If it were simply a dark comedy, that'd be fine. But as a serious period piece meant to warn of the dangers of political radicalism, it fails at delivering the message.

A bunch of girls go about dancing and get accused of witchcraft for it. In turn, Abigiail, the master manipulator, presses charges on half the community, especially her old flame, John Proctor, and his wife. The reverend and judge try to solve the problem, but because the Puritans believe just about anything, things get nasty. Hence, come the Salem witch trials.

Winona Ryder delivers a terrible performance, and comes across as overdramatic. Daniel Day-Lewis is almost on the verge of that (especially towards the end) but, for the most part, restrains himself. The hysteria that goes about in courtrooms is so blown out of proportion that it nearly becomes unintentionally hysterical. Other parts are just... bland. Any sign of reason or intelligence gets lost in favor of exaggeration. If the play was so powerful back in its day, then the filmmakers must've screwed it up, even with the original playwright writing the script. Maybe the tone, style, or choice of direction/casting were all wrong?

The only praises I have for this movie are the supporting cast (except the girls who follow Abigail... and the old guy), who manage to not look foolish when performing. They actually do the best that they could... with a straight face, too. The camerawork in some parts was rather interesting. Not to mention, any attention not invested in the "drama" is kept by the lovely scenery. Also, worth mentioning is that at least the material was kept faithful. It'd look great on paper, but the way it was translated was rather... baffling.

Overall, this is a decent yuk-up... though the better hanging scene belongs to "Blazing Saddles". It's true... lol.