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Reviews
The Shape of Things (2003)
Looses some power from stage to screen
This film, while well filmed, directed and acted on most counts, loses much of its power as it was transformed from play to screenplay. Though much of the original script remains intact, many strong sequences in the play are cut, leaving the film's potential power diminished. For example, both Jenny and Adam have monologues which have been cut, as well as some great lines which just add power to the script. Additionally, as an actor who played Evelyn in summer stock,I thought Ms. Weiz gave a rather timid performance, and seemed afraid to really commit to a decision or to play her actions through. For example, in her climactic monologue, the just never quite gets to the emotional height she should, although this can be blamed to some extent on changes within the text. The rest of the cast was strong for the most part, but Mr Rudd especially suffered due to Ms. Weis' playing it safe. Her stakes are never quite high enough On the whole, the movie is well made, but loses much of its force between stage and screen due to its unwillingness to take that extra step, falling just between soap opera melodrama and real . But, I suppose, that is the peril of making a movie in modern America. However, worth seeing simply due to the fact that the film does raise some interesting questions.