VIRGINIA (Dustin Lance Black). 116 minutes. Opens Friday (May 18). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NN
You’d rather a first-time director be ambitious than timid, but Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) tries to do way too much in his directorial debut.
In a small Christian tourist town, Virginia (Jennifer Connelly), the unhinged single mom of Emmett, continues a leather-laden, fetish-based affair for years with Sheriff Tipton (Ed Harris). Tipton has political ambitions, and the affair could get in the way.
In the meantime, Emmett is falling in love with Tipton’s daughter, who may be his sister, and, oh yeah, Virginia has lung cancer. Factor in the kids’ troubled hemophiliac friend, Tipton’s jealous wife, a few proselytizing young Mormons and the angry local transvestite and call it Christian Gothic.
An energized Connelly finally loses the forbearing piety that bored us in Creation and A Beautiful Mind. The film also looks great, shot in beautiful, supersaturated colour. And Black’s themes – he’s also the screenwriter – are potentially very rich. But it’s hard to care about any of the characters, and you just wish Black could find his focus.
The film has a lot going for it, but it’s a mess.
