f i l m Domestic Disturbance
Director : Harold Becker
Cast : John Travolta, Vince Vaughn, Teri Polo, Matthew O'Leary, Steve Buscemi, Ruben Santiago-Hudson
(Paramount Pictures, 2001) Rated: PG-13 by Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters Film and TV Editor
e-mail this article Sandpaper C heck the poster for Harold ( Sea of Love ) Becker's new film, and you know all you need to know. Dominating the image is a somber and very large John Travolta's head, to the right stand little full figures of Teri Polo (who plays his ex-wife, Susan) and Matthew O'Leary (who plays his 12-year-old son, Danny). In between big head and his beloved family unit is a sharp red point, all the way up the middle of the frame: standing inside the point, leaning menacingly against its edge is Vince Vaughn. He plays Rick, new husband for Susan and standard horror-movie stepdad for Danny. And there you have it: red point guy divides family members, leading to crisis and resolution. Fine Still, Domestic Disturbance goes through the motions, slowly at first, and then with a speed that would seem remarkable if you cared a whit what was going on. Sadly, the 88-minute running time doesn't make the action any more efficient or well paced, just incoherent. In fact, the movie takes a good half hour to lay out the characters' situations, their dispositions and foibles, before it actually gives up some plot, by which time you'll be forgiven for dozing off. To wit: Travolta's Frank Morrison is a hardworking, imperfect, serious kind of man, a wooden boat builder who lives in a workshop/shack near the water, in an upscale section of the Maryland shore called Southport (the film was shot in North Carolina). Because few people want wooden boats anymore, he explains with an appropriate mix of melancholy and yearning to Danny, times are tight. | |
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