Viewers will watch a lot of bickering in the $5.5 million production “The Sisters,” which was filmed in Eugene.
“It’s always disturbing to witness an argument, especially when it involves someone you admire,”
Vincent Antonelli (Tony Goldwyn) says in the movie. He’s right about the first part.
The credits list its executive producer as University graduate Carolyn Chambers, who owns a Eugene production company. The film was released last month by Los Angeles-based Arclight Films and will soon debut in Eugene.
Based on Anton Chekhov’s play “The Three Sisters,” the movie is a tale in which four siblings, all of whom are faculty or students at a university in New York’s Upper East Side, try to live in harmony among each other. The movie is labeled as a drama so viewers would expect the Prior family to fight, but there are more conflicts than an afternoon soap opera presented in the movie.
The weighty conflicts – take a deep breath – are: floundering marriages, adultery, incest, methamphetamine addiction, jealousy and closeting one’s sexuality. All of the problems are too much to juggle in one sitting.
Antonelli, a friend of the family, was mistaken when he called another character admirable. None of the characters deserve this label. With their love for drama and their selfish ways, the characters are dislikable and invite viewers to despise them. Because a protagonist is absent, sympathies aren’t developed for anyone.
Even the nice guys and friends of the family prove to be selfish. The nearly likable Andrew (Alessandro Nivola) – “the brother” – comes off as calm but eventually proves to be just as selfish as his family members.
Dr. Chebrin (Rip Torn) takes the “Most Annoying” award as he “reads” his newspaper outloud everyday, blurting peculiar headlines to everyone present. Somehow, the rest of the characters love Dr. Chebrin.
The older sisters are struggling with their past, which is haunted by their late father.
Marcia Prior (Maria Bello) – “the beautiful one” – struggles through a bad marriage, cheats on her husband and tries to cope with her past as a sexually abused child.
Olga (Mary Stuart Masterson) – “the serious one” – keeps everything, even her sexuality, a secret and attempts to spin each moment into a positive light. She plays off her sister’s drug overdose as an effort for her to study for exams.Irene (Erika Christensen) – “the young one” – could possibly garner sympathy because of her overbearing sisters if there were more development dedicated to her character.
The on-the-surface labels don’t give the viewer enough background information to make the audience care about the characters. The only glimpse of the past viewers get are a few, short, dream-like sequences that don’t clearly reveal their late father’s wrongdoing. Instead, viewers must rely on anecdotal evidence. The film would have benefited from scenes delving into the family’s past.
Viewers might hope to escape the drama from scenes showing off the Oregon landscape, but the movie mostly takes place in a faculty lounge room. The screenwriter and director stayed too strict to the play format. Screenwriter Richard
Alfieri’s effort to keep the original artistic values intact – a rare act in Hollywood – is admirable, but the story should take advantage of its new format. Viewers should be served with more scenes to provide background and scene variation; otherwise, they might as well go to the playhouse.
The recognizable cast performs impressively and convinces the audience that the characters have some serious personality problems. Eric McCormack, who plays family friend professor Gary Sokol and is most famous for playing Will Truman on NBC’s “Will and Grace,” gives an entertaining performance as a cynical professor.
Perhaps viewers are supposed to despise the characters in the movie to reveal their own dark traits.
Instead they will come out of the theater feeling angelic compared to the Prior family and their friends.
The filming location and acting are two bright spots, and local movie-goers can count the Eugene scenes, including the University campus, Villard Hall, Sacred Heart Medical Center and downtown Eugene.
“The Sisters” is opening soon at the Bijou in Eugene. For showtimes, those interested can check www.bijou-cinemas.com.