Review of The Fountainhead (1949) by Kate S — 09 Jun 2007

Ayn Rand wrote the script for this movie and it shows. It is completely true to the book. But I guess when you have a book of solid dialogue with characters standing around explaining their motivations for doing things, or not doing things, or why others should or should not do things, you wind up with a movie of characters standing around explaining their motivations for doing things, or not doing things, or why others should or should not do things.

Also, these are not the strongest performances from either Gary Cooper or Patricia Neal. I think it's because the way Howard Roark and Dominique Francon conduct themselves is not anything close to the way that any real person would.

There's nothing human about these characters. I enjoyed Ayn Rand's books when I was younger, but many of her ideas seem ridiculous to me now. Hearing the idea that volunteerism is a form of slavery spoken out loud in the movie sounded utterly absurd and made me giggle.