The Cider House Rules
THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (15)
D: Lasse Hallström
Miramax/FilmColomy (Richard N. Gladstein)
USA 🇺🇸 1999
131 mins
Drama
W: John Irving [based on his
novel]
DP: Oliver Stapleton
Ed: Lisa Zeno Churgin
Mus: Rachel Portman
PD: David Gropman
Tobey Maguire (Homer Wells), Charlize Theron
(Candy Kendall), Delroy Lindo (Mr. Rose), Paul Rudd (Wally Worthington), Michael Caine (Dr. Wilbur Larch), Jane Alexander (Nurse Edna), Kathy Baker (Nurse Angela), Erykah
Badu (Rose Rose), Kieran Culkin (Buster), Kate Nelligan (Olive Worthington)
Rubbish title, decent film.
Set in New England during the 1940's, Homer Wells, a young
man raised in an orphanage grows up to be a doctor, the apprentice of Dr. Wilbur Larch, an ether addict who runs the orphanage and performs clandestine abortions.
Their relationship becomes strained when the older doctor
wants his protege to take over the practice from him, but their clashes of opinions over undertaking abortions sends Wells out into the world where he finds work at an orchard.
This bittersweet melodrama captures some simply amazing
acting performances, especially from Michael Caine, with a final act which feels like a blow to the solar plexus.
Based on the novel by John Irving, who also wrote and won
an Oscar for his screenplay.
8/10
