Ethan Frome (1993)

Directed by John Madden. Starring Liam Neeson, Patricia Arquette, Joan Allen, Tate Donovan, Katharine Houghton, Stephen Mendillo, Jay Goode. [PG]

Although following the frame narrative structure of the novella, this adaptation of the Edith Wharton tale feels pointlessly padded with lengthy introductory material setting up Tate Donovan as a Boston pastor newly arrived in the small town of Starkfield, meeting the locals and striking up tentative relationships with all but the moody, limping Ethan Frome (Neeson), a “ruin of a man” whose reticence to talk and share makes him an unapproachable curiosity. Then, until the very end, we leave the newcomer for an extended flashback showing how Frome became the way he is, marrying an older, sickly woman named Zeena (Allen), but thereafter harboring deep feelings for her cousin, Mattie (Arquette), who is staying at their home. Simple morality tale depicted as a doomed love triangle with everything but the circumstances leading to the “crippling” incident moving with passive inevitability. And, oh, how love does suffer with these three—even during the would-be lovers’ most blissful moments while Zeena is away, Neeson is tortured and their world is cold, damp gloom. John Madden’s feature directing debut.

46/100