Word: garp
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...from rebellious Wellesley student into even more rebellious nurse and ultimately into the leader of a militant women's movement seems plausible. But the movie bypasses Jenny's younger days altogether, and the lack of background creates confusion. This is the one fundamental problem with the film version of Garp: In the generally successful effort to wrestle Irving's sprawling work into a story digestible in one sitting, Hill and Tesich have left out crucial scenes and subplots which support the main story and underscore its irony. Those who have not previously believed in Garp enough to buy a paperback...
Williams finds a poignance in Garp which is appropriately reflected in the other characters as well. The hero becomes "Sir Scum" and creates frantic medieval battles for his sons on the front lawn. He is constantly staring at the kids in awe. "I will never write anything that lovely." Garp tells his wife Helen (Mary Beth Hurt) after tucking sons Duncan and Walt into bed. Helen provides a steady and more serious influence throughout, and Roberta Muldoon (John Lithgow), the tight end-turned-transsexual effectively becomes the best friend a Garp could ever have. Even the puzzling Jenny Fields (Glenn...
...Oscar for writing Breaking Away, recreates the endearing kind of dialogue which made the Cutters of Indianapolis genuine heroes. Some comes directly from Irving, who advised throughout the filmmaking; but Tesich continues to develop sincere relationships around off-beat but believable discussions. Shopping for a house, Garp and his wife watch calmly as a one-man plane crashes into the second floor of a prospective purchase. Comments the hero: "The chances of another plane hitting our house are astronomical, Helen. We'll take...
...upcoming film Pearlie, but for originality, Lithgow scoops him. In a story about families overly concerned with their own self-preservation, it is Roberta--the social pariah--who is the most consistent source of spirit when danger arises. Roberta also plays "Sir Scum"; she hurdles shrubbery with Garp in a comic pursuit of reckless drivers, outpacing and protecting her friend. In the eerie feminist funeral for Garp's slain mother, where the protagonist must attend in drag, Roberta runs interference for Garp when he is unmasked. Roberta's is the first shoulder upon which everyone cries...
Close, as Jenny Fields, and Hurt, as Helen, also deliver solid performances when working with Williams or Lithgow. But these supporting actors fail to give their characters the magnetism Williams and Lithgow create. Garp's education, which occupies the first part of the film, gets the story off to a sluggish start because the scenes focus on Jenny Fields, whose character is underdeveloped in the film and whose eccentric behavior is thus cryptic...