The Human Stain
Studio: Miramax
Website: http://www.miramax.com/the_human_stain/
Release Date: 2003-10-31
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Jacinda Barrett
Director: Robert Benton
Screenwriter: Nicholas Meyer, Philip Roth
WorkNameSort: The Human Stain
Our Rating: 2.00
In this Philip Roth adaptation, a college professor (Anthony Hopkins) is bounced from his post for using innocuous language that’s perceived as racist. Yet almost as soon as that intriguing premise is established, the movie veers off in a million lesser directions, peering in on the prof’s relationships with a blocked writer (Gary Sinise, barely there) and an emotionally scarred female janitor (Nicole Kidman). By the time we get back to the race angle (the only interesting element of this shapeless snoozer), it’s been hopelessly tainted by the surrounding poppycock — like Kidman’s career-low portrayal of Hopkins’ white-trash dalliance, a persona she assumes by jutting out her lower lip and sucking down cigarette after cigarette. It’s just about the most ridiculous thing you’ll ever see.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2003.