Christopher Durang, one of American’s most acclaimed and accomplished playwrights whose works like Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike were as incisive as they were absurdly comic, died Tuesday night at his home in Pipersville, Pa., in Bucks County. He was 75.
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
- 4/3/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
‘The Wonder Years’ Co-Stars Alley Mills & Dan Lauria Reunite For Off Broadway’s ‘Morning’s At Seven’
Alley Mills will be reunited with her The Wonder Years husband Dan Lauria in the new Off Broadway production of Paul Osborn’s classic stage comedy Morning’s At Seven, a reteaming that comes as Mills replaces the recently injured Judith Ivey.
Mills, who stars on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful, joins Lauria and other Morning’s At Seven cast members Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, Tony Roberts, John Rubinstein, Keri Safran, Jonathan Spivey and Patty McCormack (the latter most famously remembered as evil little Rhoda Penmark from 1956’s The Bad Seed).
The original Wonder Years mom was cast in the role of Arry after Ivey left the production due a torn tendon. (Nancy Ringham was a temporary replacement until Mills could join.)
“We are thrilled to have Alley Mills join our Morning’s At Seven family,” said producer Julian Schlossberg in a statement. “In the theatre, anything can happen,...
Mills, who stars on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful, joins Lauria and other Morning’s At Seven cast members Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, Tony Roberts, John Rubinstein, Keri Safran, Jonathan Spivey and Patty McCormack (the latter most famously remembered as evil little Rhoda Penmark from 1956’s The Bad Seed).
The original Wonder Years mom was cast in the role of Arry after Ivey left the production due a torn tendon. (Nancy Ringham was a temporary replacement until Mills could join.)
“We are thrilled to have Alley Mills join our Morning’s At Seven family,” said producer Julian Schlossberg in a statement. “In the theatre, anything can happen,...
- 11/5/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Half a decade has passed since Lin-Manuel Miranda finished his Broadway run as the star of “Hamilton,” but the adulation for his work just keeps coming. The Tony-winning smash, which Miranda also wrote, experienced a surge in popularity after a filmed version featuring the entire original cast premiered on Disney+ last July. Miranda and six of his castmates have been recognized for their acting, which makes most of them part of an exclusive group of performers who have earned Tony and Emmy bids for the same role.
Just as they did at the 2016 Tonys, leading men Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. face each other directly in this year’s Best Movie/Limited Actor Emmy race. Nominated for their supporting turns are Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, and Phillipa Soo. Ramos is the only one to have not originally competed at the Tonys, as that slot was instead filled by Christopher Jackson.
Just as they did at the 2016 Tonys, leading men Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. face each other directly in this year’s Best Movie/Limited Actor Emmy race. Nominated for their supporting turns are Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, and Phillipa Soo. Ramos is the only one to have not originally competed at the Tonys, as that slot was instead filled by Christopher Jackson.
- 9/5/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
1984: Guiding Light's H.B. questioned Reva's feelings.
1987: Y&r's Brenda Dickson aired for the final time as Jill.
2001: Spyder Games premiered on MTV.
2010: Liz Foster died on The Young and the Restless."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1963: On Ben Jerrod, Agnes (Jeanne Baird) was rebuffed when she sought information.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
1965: On General Hospital, Eddie Weeks (Doug Lambert) and Angie Costello (Jana Taylor) started down a path leading to tragedy.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
1987: Y&r's Brenda Dickson aired for the final time as Jill.
2001: Spyder Games premiered on MTV.
2010: Liz Foster died on The Young and the Restless."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1963: On Ben Jerrod, Agnes (Jeanne Baird) was rebuffed when she sought information.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
1965: On General Hospital, Eddie Weeks (Doug Lambert) and Angie Costello (Jana Taylor) started down a path leading to tragedy.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
- 6/18/2019
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
1984: Guiding Light's H.B. questioned Reva's feelings.
1987: Y&R's Brenda Dickson aired for the final time as Jill.
2001: Spyder Games premiered on MTV.
2010: Liz Foster died on The Young and the Restless."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1963: On Ben Jerrod, Agnes (Jeanne Baird) was rebuffed when she sought information.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
1965: On General Hospital, Eddie...
1987: Y&R's Brenda Dickson aired for the final time as Jill.
2001: Spyder Games premiered on MTV.
2010: Liz Foster died on The Young and the Restless."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"
"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.
On this date in...
1963: On Ben Jerrod, Agnes (Jeanne Baird) was rebuffed when she sought information.
Thanks to Jeff for sending in the item above.
1965: On General Hospital, Eddie...
- 6/20/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick, Managing Director Jeff Griffin and Executive Director Greg Reiner, announced today that its production of Ivan Turgenev's A Month In The Country, starring Peter Dinklage and Taylor Schilling, will extend through Saturday, February 28 at Csc 136 East 13th Street. The production had been schedules to close February 22. Directed by Erica Schmidt, the cast also includes Peter Appel, Ian Etheridge, Anthony Edwards, Mike Faist, Elizabeth Franz, James Joseph O'Neil, Elizabeth Ramos, Thomas Jay Ryan, Annabella Sciorra, Frank Van Putten, Megan West and Kate Wetherhead.
- 2/2/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Classic Stage Company welcomes Emmy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winner Anthony Edwards 'ER', Annabella Sciorra 'The Sopranos' and Tony Award-winner Elizabeth Franz Death of A Salesman, Brighton Beach Memoirs, alongside Peter Dinklage Tyrion Lannister on HBO's Game of Thrones and Taylor Schilling Piper Chapman on Netflix's Orange Is The New Black in Ivan Turgenev's A Month in the Country, opening at Csc 136 East 13th Street tonight, January 29, for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 22.
- 1/29/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
"No one expects you to perform miracles," says the head of the Perkins Institute for the Blind sending his prized pupil Anne Sullivan south from Boston to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to a family where she is to become governess to an unruly blind and deaf girl named Helen Keller. The line gets a big laugh at the Circle in the Square Theater because, in this cherished, inspiring story of true events from 1880-well-known from the original 1959 play by William Gibson and a first-rate 1962 movie-of course work a miracle is exactly what she does. This revival of Gibson's play features a wonderful supporting cast of seasoned actors: Elizabeth Franz plays Helen's aunt, Jennifer Morrison, Helen's mother, and Matthew Modine in his Broadway debut rises to skeptical, curmudgeonly fervor as Helen's father. In a quasi-developed subplot with his son James (Tobias...
- 3/5/2010
- by Regina Weinreich
- Huffington Post
"Christmas With the Kranks" is a peculiar and at times even sour tale about the tyranny of Christmas. Of course, in the end, Christmas is shown to be a joyous holiday filled with mirth and good cheer. But not before it gets depicted as a pernicious, unavoidable chore thrust upon people without respect for their feelings or wishes. The problem is that the case for the latter portrayal is at least as convincing as that of the former.
Any film with Christmas in its title wants to turn into a perennial holiday movie. The presence of Tim Allen from the two hit "Santa Clause" movies and Jamie Lee Curtis certainly decks the halls with absolutely the right talent. But a streak of nastiness, while not as pervasive as that in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Christmas downer "Jingle All the Way", might mitigate against "Kranks'" staying power over time. This year, however, Sony and Revolution Studios should enjoy above-average returns on what appears to be a modestly budgeted comedy.
Unlike Scrooge, Luther (Allen) and Nora (Curtis) Krank are no Christmas naysayers. They faithfully celebrate the holiday every year. It's just that this year, with daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) in Peru serving in the Peace Corps, Luther talks Nora into "skipping Christmas" -- saving money they normally spend in order to go on a Caribbean cruise. Makes perfect sense but apparently not on Hemlock Street in the Chicago suburb of Riverside.
Christmas in Riverside is a mandatory community event overseen by nosy neighbor Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd). By refusing to decorate their home and host their annual Christmas Eve bash, the Kranks become instant outsiders. That turns Luther into a such a curmudgeon that he declines to haul his illuminated Frosty the Snowman out of the basement so neighbors can put him on the rooftop to match all the other Frostys on the street.
Luther standing defiantly on his front lawn, refusing to free Frosty, might have been more credible had his front door not been decorated with a Christmas wreath. But Hemlock Street does not exist in a very credible world. Would the Kranks' decision to skip Christmas really make the front page of the local newspaper? Would Luther refuse to give a small donation to the police benevolent society? (This is, remember, a suburb of Chicago.) Would Luther escalate the conflict to the point that he might cause serious injury to carolers?
Chris Columbus' script, adapted from one of John Grisham's nonlegal thriller novels, overstates the premise and broadly sketches the escalating incidents to win laughs. Nor is it afraid to stoop to such sentimental gimmicks as the feuding neighbor M. Emmet Walsh) whose wife (Elizabeth Franz) is dying of cancer.
Joe Roth's competent, well-paced direction does allow the actors to shine. Curtis demonstrates once more what an adept physical comedian she is, while Allen, too, gets knocked around to comic effect. In one especially good scene, a tanning salon and Botox injection not only distort Allen's face but also cause all food to drop from his mouth.
Aykroyd is a bit over-the-top from the beginning, but young Erik Per Sullivan from "Malcolm in the Middle" adds comic spice as Aykroyd's son and second in command. Austin Pendleton displays dopey charm as a party guest no one can place. And casting Cheech Marin as a police officer has its own sly humor.
Garreth Stover's set of Hemlock Street and its homes, which glow with Don Burgess' cinematography, look cozy enough that you want to move in. All other tech credits are solid.
CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents a 1492 Pictures production
Credits:
Director: Joe Roth
Writer: Chris Columbus
Based on the novel by: John Grisham
Producers: Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan
Executive producers: Charles Newirth, Bruce A. Block
Director of photography: Don Burgess
Production designer: Garreth Stover
Music: John Debney
Co-producer: Allegra Clegg
Costumes: Susie DeSanto
Editor: Nick Moore
Cast:
Luther Krank: Tim Allen
Nora Krank: Jamie Lee Curtis
Vic Frohmeyher: Dan Aykroyd
Walt Scheel: M. Emmet Walsh
Bev Scheel: Elizabeth Franz
Spike: Erik Per Sullivan
Officer Salino: Cheech Marin
Officer Treen: Jake Busey
Umbrella Santa/Marty: Austin Pendleton
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 98 minutes...
Any film with Christmas in its title wants to turn into a perennial holiday movie. The presence of Tim Allen from the two hit "Santa Clause" movies and Jamie Lee Curtis certainly decks the halls with absolutely the right talent. But a streak of nastiness, while not as pervasive as that in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Christmas downer "Jingle All the Way", might mitigate against "Kranks'" staying power over time. This year, however, Sony and Revolution Studios should enjoy above-average returns on what appears to be a modestly budgeted comedy.
Unlike Scrooge, Luther (Allen) and Nora (Curtis) Krank are no Christmas naysayers. They faithfully celebrate the holiday every year. It's just that this year, with daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) in Peru serving in the Peace Corps, Luther talks Nora into "skipping Christmas" -- saving money they normally spend in order to go on a Caribbean cruise. Makes perfect sense but apparently not on Hemlock Street in the Chicago suburb of Riverside.
Christmas in Riverside is a mandatory community event overseen by nosy neighbor Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd). By refusing to decorate their home and host their annual Christmas Eve bash, the Kranks become instant outsiders. That turns Luther into a such a curmudgeon that he declines to haul his illuminated Frosty the Snowman out of the basement so neighbors can put him on the rooftop to match all the other Frostys on the street.
Luther standing defiantly on his front lawn, refusing to free Frosty, might have been more credible had his front door not been decorated with a Christmas wreath. But Hemlock Street does not exist in a very credible world. Would the Kranks' decision to skip Christmas really make the front page of the local newspaper? Would Luther refuse to give a small donation to the police benevolent society? (This is, remember, a suburb of Chicago.) Would Luther escalate the conflict to the point that he might cause serious injury to carolers?
Chris Columbus' script, adapted from one of John Grisham's nonlegal thriller novels, overstates the premise and broadly sketches the escalating incidents to win laughs. Nor is it afraid to stoop to such sentimental gimmicks as the feuding neighbor M. Emmet Walsh) whose wife (Elizabeth Franz) is dying of cancer.
Joe Roth's competent, well-paced direction does allow the actors to shine. Curtis demonstrates once more what an adept physical comedian she is, while Allen, too, gets knocked around to comic effect. In one especially good scene, a tanning salon and Botox injection not only distort Allen's face but also cause all food to drop from his mouth.
Aykroyd is a bit over-the-top from the beginning, but young Erik Per Sullivan from "Malcolm in the Middle" adds comic spice as Aykroyd's son and second in command. Austin Pendleton displays dopey charm as a party guest no one can place. And casting Cheech Marin as a police officer has its own sly humor.
Garreth Stover's set of Hemlock Street and its homes, which glow with Don Burgess' cinematography, look cozy enough that you want to move in. All other tech credits are solid.
CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents a 1492 Pictures production
Credits:
Director: Joe Roth
Writer: Chris Columbus
Based on the novel by: John Grisham
Producers: Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan
Executive producers: Charles Newirth, Bruce A. Block
Director of photography: Don Burgess
Production designer: Garreth Stover
Music: John Debney
Co-producer: Allegra Clegg
Costumes: Susie DeSanto
Editor: Nick Moore
Cast:
Luther Krank: Tim Allen
Nora Krank: Jamie Lee Curtis
Vic Frohmeyher: Dan Aykroyd
Walt Scheel: M. Emmet Walsh
Bev Scheel: Elizabeth Franz
Spike: Erik Per Sullivan
Officer Salino: Cheech Marin
Officer Treen: Jake Busey
Umbrella Santa/Marty: Austin Pendleton
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 98 minutes...
- 12/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ron Rifkin reprises his award-winning stage turn as an embattled publisher in a fine screen adaptation of Jon Robin Baitz's "The Substance of Fire".
Released for a one-week Academy qualifying engagement in Los Angeles and New York (it will be officially launched on Feb. 7), the film delivers Rifkin's tricky performance intact and offers solid work from an ensemble including Tony Goldwyn, Sarah Jessica Parker and Timothy Hutton.
While "Substance" arrives with a built-in awareness factor for the theater crowd, the piece has been considerably reconceptualized for the screen, and its even stronger portrait of a family torn apart makes for newly powerful viewing.
Rifkin treads a very fine line between pathos and disdain as the widowed Isaac Geldhart, a caustic New York literary publisher with three grown children. A Holocaust survivor (as a child, he was hidden by cousins while his immediate family was taken away), Isaac attempts to assuage a lifetime of guilt by undertaking the prestige printing of a four-volume documentation of Nazi medical experiments.
The problem is that the publishing house he ran with his late wife is already in serious financial trouble, and his son, Aaron (Tony Goldwyn), a partner in the company, would rather he publish a potential best seller that happens to have been written by his boyfriend (Gil Bellows). But the elder Geldhart remains adamant to the point of firing Aaron and consequently disowning his other two children -- timid landscape architecture teacher Martin (Hutton) and energetic kids show performer Sarah (Parker).
Although his offspring would go on to have the last laugh -- the potential best seller more than lives up to Aaron's hunch, while the costly Nazi atrocity books drive Isaac to professional and emotional ruin -- a tragedy occurs that ultimately and literally brings the father back to his senses and his splintered family together.
In turning his Obie Award-winning play into a screenplay, Baitz has done some significant structural renovating, resulting in a more focused, moving central theme. Theater director Daniel Sullivan, who also handled the original stage version, makes an impressive feature film debut, managing to avoid most of the static trappings of stage-to-screen vehicles.
But it is the cast that shines brightest. Rifkin's notable balancing act aside, Baitz's words and Sullivan's direction coax strong performances from Goldwyn, Hutton and Parker, as well as a quietly affecting turn by Elizabeth Franz as Geldhart's loyal, long-suffering secretary.
THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE
Miramax Films
Director Daniel Sullivan
Screenwriter Jon Robin Baitz
Producers Jon Robin Baitz, Randy Finch,
Ron Kastner
Director of photography Robert Yeoman
Production design John Lee Beatty
Editor Pamela Martin
Music Joseph Vitarelli
Costume design Jess Goldstein
Casting Meg Simon
Color/stereo
Cast:
Isaac Geldhart Ron Rifkin
Sarah Geldhart Sarah Jessica Parker
Martin Geldhart Timothy Hutton
Aaron Geldhart Tony Goldwyn
Louis Foukold Ronny Graham
Val Gil Bellows
Gene Byck Eric Bogosian
Max Roger Rees
Ms. Barzakian Elizabeth Franz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Released for a one-week Academy qualifying engagement in Los Angeles and New York (it will be officially launched on Feb. 7), the film delivers Rifkin's tricky performance intact and offers solid work from an ensemble including Tony Goldwyn, Sarah Jessica Parker and Timothy Hutton.
While "Substance" arrives with a built-in awareness factor for the theater crowd, the piece has been considerably reconceptualized for the screen, and its even stronger portrait of a family torn apart makes for newly powerful viewing.
Rifkin treads a very fine line between pathos and disdain as the widowed Isaac Geldhart, a caustic New York literary publisher with three grown children. A Holocaust survivor (as a child, he was hidden by cousins while his immediate family was taken away), Isaac attempts to assuage a lifetime of guilt by undertaking the prestige printing of a four-volume documentation of Nazi medical experiments.
The problem is that the publishing house he ran with his late wife is already in serious financial trouble, and his son, Aaron (Tony Goldwyn), a partner in the company, would rather he publish a potential best seller that happens to have been written by his boyfriend (Gil Bellows). But the elder Geldhart remains adamant to the point of firing Aaron and consequently disowning his other two children -- timid landscape architecture teacher Martin (Hutton) and energetic kids show performer Sarah (Parker).
Although his offspring would go on to have the last laugh -- the potential best seller more than lives up to Aaron's hunch, while the costly Nazi atrocity books drive Isaac to professional and emotional ruin -- a tragedy occurs that ultimately and literally brings the father back to his senses and his splintered family together.
In turning his Obie Award-winning play into a screenplay, Baitz has done some significant structural renovating, resulting in a more focused, moving central theme. Theater director Daniel Sullivan, who also handled the original stage version, makes an impressive feature film debut, managing to avoid most of the static trappings of stage-to-screen vehicles.
But it is the cast that shines brightest. Rifkin's notable balancing act aside, Baitz's words and Sullivan's direction coax strong performances from Goldwyn, Hutton and Parker, as well as a quietly affecting turn by Elizabeth Franz as Geldhart's loyal, long-suffering secretary.
THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE
Miramax Films
Director Daniel Sullivan
Screenwriter Jon Robin Baitz
Producers Jon Robin Baitz, Randy Finch,
Ron Kastner
Director of photography Robert Yeoman
Production design John Lee Beatty
Editor Pamela Martin
Music Joseph Vitarelli
Costume design Jess Goldstein
Casting Meg Simon
Color/stereo
Cast:
Isaac Geldhart Ron Rifkin
Sarah Geldhart Sarah Jessica Parker
Martin Geldhart Timothy Hutton
Aaron Geldhart Tony Goldwyn
Louis Foukold Ronny Graham
Val Gil Bellows
Gene Byck Eric Bogosian
Max Roger Rees
Ms. Barzakian Elizabeth Franz
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/8/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stage director Daniel Sullivan's feature debut is a competent adaptation of Jon Robin Baitz's 1989 play about a Holocaust survivor grown into a hard-headed publisher and hard-hearted father. "The Substance of Fire", an upcoming Miramax release, premiered locally Saturday at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival.
Lauded for his performances in the theatrical version, Ron Rifkin reprises the role of Isaac Geldhart, seen in a new opening as a child observing a book-burning during the war. The scene quickly shifts to current times, with Isaac in New York and a heap of problems about to ignite.
Having lost his family and wife and grown stony in the face of criticism for printing only narrow-interest works on the war, Isaac rebuffs his more practical son, Aaron (Tony Goldwyn). The latter is having no luck attracting investors and seeks to publish a potential best seller.
Isaac believes in high standards of craftsmanship and Old World integrity. A struggle ensues for control of the company, with Isaac losing his grip over Aaron's weak older brother (Timothy Hutton) and insurgent sister, Sarah Sarah Jessica Parker). All have equal shares, and Isaac is conspired against.
Meanwhile, Ronny Graham as a cranky author and loyal friend of Isaac lends support as Rifkin, with assured moves, takes us through the lead's mounting crises. Elizabeth Franz is another welcome presence as Isaac's won't-go-down-with-the-ship secretary.
Goldwyn, Hutton and Parker, however, are anything but inspiring. One develops little interest in their characters' problems when the spotlight shines so harshly on Isaac. Rifkin is commanding, but one grows weary waiting for his armor to crack.
One does learn a few things about paper stock and binding in Sullivan's latching onto cinematic possibilities, but the drama is still stagy while lacking the energy and urgency of a live performance.
THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE
Miramax Films
Goldheart Films
Director Daniel Sullivan
Writer Jon Robin Baitz
Producers Jon Robin Baitz, Randy Finch,
Ron Kastner
Co-producer Lemore Syvan
Director of photography Robert Yeoman
Production designer John Lee Beatty
Editor Pamela Martin
Costume designer Jess Goldstein
Casting Meg Simon
Cast:
Isaac Geldhart Ron Rifkin
Aaron Geldhart Tony Goldwyn
Martin Geldhart Timothy Hutton
Sarah Geldhart Sarah Jessica Parker
Miss Barzakian Elizabeth Franz
Val Chenard Gil Bellows
Louis Foukold Ronny Graham
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Lauded for his performances in the theatrical version, Ron Rifkin reprises the role of Isaac Geldhart, seen in a new opening as a child observing a book-burning during the war. The scene quickly shifts to current times, with Isaac in New York and a heap of problems about to ignite.
Having lost his family and wife and grown stony in the face of criticism for printing only narrow-interest works on the war, Isaac rebuffs his more practical son, Aaron (Tony Goldwyn). The latter is having no luck attracting investors and seeks to publish a potential best seller.
Isaac believes in high standards of craftsmanship and Old World integrity. A struggle ensues for control of the company, with Isaac losing his grip over Aaron's weak older brother (Timothy Hutton) and insurgent sister, Sarah Sarah Jessica Parker). All have equal shares, and Isaac is conspired against.
Meanwhile, Ronny Graham as a cranky author and loyal friend of Isaac lends support as Rifkin, with assured moves, takes us through the lead's mounting crises. Elizabeth Franz is another welcome presence as Isaac's won't-go-down-with-the-ship secretary.
Goldwyn, Hutton and Parker, however, are anything but inspiring. One develops little interest in their characters' problems when the spotlight shines so harshly on Isaac. Rifkin is commanding, but one grows weary waiting for his armor to crack.
One does learn a few things about paper stock and binding in Sullivan's latching onto cinematic possibilities, but the drama is still stagy while lacking the energy and urgency of a live performance.
THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE
Miramax Films
Goldheart Films
Director Daniel Sullivan
Writer Jon Robin Baitz
Producers Jon Robin Baitz, Randy Finch,
Ron Kastner
Co-producer Lemore Syvan
Director of photography Robert Yeoman
Production designer John Lee Beatty
Editor Pamela Martin
Costume designer Jess Goldstein
Casting Meg Simon
Cast:
Isaac Geldhart Ron Rifkin
Aaron Geldhart Tony Goldwyn
Martin Geldhart Timothy Hutton
Sarah Geldhart Sarah Jessica Parker
Miss Barzakian Elizabeth Franz
Val Chenard Gil Bellows
Louis Foukold Ronny Graham
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/28/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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