Review of Wit (2001) by Dfw F — 02 Nov 2009

Wit (2001) Another rewiewer called this film sophomoric. I disagree so very much. It is a very brave film, also tough film to watch. Wit is directed by Mike Nichols, who also directed Closer and Charlie Wilsons War.

It's based on an award winning play written by Margaret Edson. Emma Thompson and Nichols co-wrote the screenplay, and it�¢s really fantastic. One is immediately struck by the quality of Edson's writing.

Craft, care and attention to detail are apparent throughout. Every word, every point of punctuation is made to count, the accumulating layers of wit and meaning brilliantly reflecting the protagonist's lifelong obsession with language and interpretation.

Vivian Bearing, a demanding and uncompromising professor of 17th century English poetry specializing in the holy sonnets of John Donne, is diagnosed with advanced (stage 4) metastatic ovarian cancer. Being an academic, she treats the news with certain matter-of-factness much like she would her own research.

Indeed, her medical team - the renowned Dr. Harvey Kelekian and his fellow, Dr. Jason Posner, who happens to be an ex-student of hers - do treat her solely like a research experiment, with a "live at all cost" mentality.

The doctors recommend an experimental treatment of aggressive chemotherapy, to which she agrees. In part out of her own choice but in part out of her own personal circumstances, she decides to go through the treatment alone.

But as her treatment progresses, she wishes she had some more truly caring human interaction from people who see her as a person and not just a research experiment. Emma Thompson delivers a brave, heartfelt, and punishing performance in this poignant film.

My mom died of bone cancer in 1995 after struggling with treatments for 5 years. The territory covered by this film is not unfamiliar to me. But while this faithful adaptation of Margaret Edson's off-Broadway play is an ideal vehicle for its star's dramatic and comedic talents, its main preoccupations - poetry and death - make it a tough go for viewers.

Vivian finds her formidable intellect counts for nothing in an environment that regards her merely as a research tool. Too late perhaps, Vivian realizes a little kindness goes a long way. Most of the action takes place around Vivian's hospital bed, with Thompson speaking directly to camera in an overtly theatrical fashion.

Caution this film will make you cry or vomiting sick or both. Wit is one of the first films some of the moving going public might ever see that might make them aware that movies can go beyond entertainment that all actors are not created equal, and it's not a requirement to leave a movie feeling happy, or enthralled with explosions and gun fights.

The film or screenplay fails for me in one way-why not does this woman have not even one single person at her bedside during this ordeal leading to her death? (she had one visitor) Wit is a powerful drama about dying and death that will soften the heart of anyone who sees it.

Five stars great performance by Thompson.