Diane Keaton, Shoot the Moon

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Stephen Schiff

“…. [Finney's] is a towering performance… Finney has a supernal, otherwordly power and presence. But it's Keaton who keeps the movie balanced and down-to-earth. If Finney gives it fire, she gives it humanity. I think her performance here is the finest work she has ever done; it's warm, angry, humorous, and brave enough to make Faith seem a vast, classical role--anyone, man or woman, can see himself in her. At 36, Keaton is not afraid to look old and roughed up. She lets us see the wrinkles on her upper lip and the sad bleariness that creeps into her eyes, and she can bring a depth of feeling into her face that the whole world might drown in. She can also be funny and radiant, and there is something very special in her scenes with the kids; she's maternal in a way that goes beyond acting. In the sequence in which she invites Frank over for dinner, knowing that he may become her lover, Keaton ranges from the charming giddiness we associate with her Woody Allen films to a new, almost shocking vulnerability. The writing in the sequence is very beautiful, and Parker seats Faith and Frank across from each other, setting the camera way back, so that we can feel the aching space between them. Even in long shot, however, Keaton pulls us inside her, letting us know what it is to be a woman who hasn't let herself feel sexual for years. Later, there is a scene in a bathtub, when Faith sings "If I Fell," letting the lyrics hurt, that will undoubtedly become famous. And just afterward, Faith talks on the phone with her mother, and Keaton's acting is just as perfect, if a bit less showy. This is a great, heroic performance. It bumps up against the kingdom of Garbo and Katharine Hepburn--the limits of what an actor can do on the screen.”

Stephen Schiff
Boston Phoenix
good, no date

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