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Robert Benton, Feast of Love

by Kathryn Durfee
09/29/2007

A wise man once said "all you need is love." That may be true, but love is hard to find and even harder to keep. Robert Benton's film Feast of Love, released September 28, is a contemporary look at love through the lives of a handful of intertwined characters.

Based on the book by Charles Baxter, Feast of Love spotlights a small community in Portland, Oregon. Harry Stevenson (Morgan Freeman) is a retired professor that hangs out at Jitters, a local coffee shop owned by Bradley Thomas (Greg Kinnear). While at the coffee shop (or more generally, while with Bradley), Harry witnesses the birth of several relationships: that of Bradley's wife Kathryn and Jenny (no, that's not a typo; Bradley gets dumped for a woman), that of Bradley's employee Oscar and the vibrant Chloe, and finally, Bradley and the women he meets while on the search for his true love.

The film, though beautifully shot and well acted, falls short on many levels. We have seen all these stories before: the grieving parents, the guy looking for love in all the wrong places, the youngsters whose love for each other cannot save them from the cruelties of the world, and the unfaithful spouses. Unfortunately, Feast of Love does not offer us anything new. There are no twists; each tale is flawlessly set up, played out, and tied up in the end.

Stephen Trasks's music, along with the overly melodramatic script, cues the audience as to what they should be feeling at any given moment. The movie is devoid of tension, not because the stories are boring but because all the pieces are given to the audience from the beginning. Maybe it's just because I've seen too many movies, but I predicted the outcome of all five (give or take) stories. In addition, there are a handful of gratuitous sex scenes. I'm no prude, but if the scene doesn't really add to the story, it's just making the movie longer.

Now for some good news, Feast of Love is a showcase for the actors, even if the stories are a little bland. Greg Kinnear delivers a heartfelt performance as Bradley,a man on the seemingly hopeless search for true love. He appears just as sad and pitiful as the dogs he takes Kathryn to visit at the pound. It's painful, and seemingly unnecessary, to watch him get trampled on not once, but twice in the span of 102 minutes! At least, as Harry puts it, the second time he gets dumped, it's for another man. Morgan Freeman delivers as the grandfatherly Harry, but there was little doubt that he would falter. My only problem with his role is that it is nowhere near a challenge for so talented an actor.

As for the women in the film, Selma Blair has a small role and does very little with it. Her flirtation with Jenny is one of the most obvious scenes of lesbian attraction I've ever seen (how Bradley missed it is beyond me). Otherwise, Blair displays very little emotion in what could have been a much stronger role. Likewise, Mitchell appeared distant and cold in her portrayal of the adulterous Diana.

In contrast, Alexa Davalos' Chloe was nearly perfect. Young and passionate, Chloe seems to be the one of the most mature characters in the story. She is honest and rational, and Davalos skillfully undertakes the role of a modern-day Juliet. Jane Alexander here plays Esther Stevenson (Harry's wife), a woman dealing with the loss of a child and the emotional train wrecks of the people around her.

Overall, Feast of Love is pretty and features some great performances, but doesn't demand much of the audience. It plays like a soap opera with a fat budget, and in the end feels more like stale leftovers than a feast.

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