Title: Lathe Of Heaven
Stars: James Caan, Lukas Haas, Lisa
Bonet, David Strathairn, and Sheila McCarthy
Writer: Alan Sharp
Based on the Novel by: Ursula K. Le
Guin
Director: Philip Haas
Running Time: 92 minutes without
commercials
Media: A&E Original Television
Motion Picture (NTSC VHS Screener)
World Premiere Sunday, September 8,
2002, at 8pm (ET/PT)/7pm (CT)
Network: Arts & Entertainment
Network (Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: PG
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
In 1980 New York Public Broadcasting
Station WNET 13 produced their first original film, which as a dramatization of
Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Lathe Of Heaven.” The film starred a young Bruce
Davison as “George Orr,” a young troubled man who has a problem with his
dreams, which he describes as being “effective.” Kevin Conway played his
Psychiatrist “Dr. Haber” and Margaret Avery appeared as “Heather Lelache,”
George’s soul mate through his dreams and realities.
Two years ago WNET 13 celebrated the 20th
anniversary of the film with the airing of a digitally remastered version of
“The Lathe Of Heaven,” which was followed by a home video and DVD release
from New Video. Unfortunately the original film negatives had long been lost so
the new version was actually restored from existing video masters, which had
aged too. The film was the number one requested catalogue title in the history
of PBS and despite the fact that the effects were dated and the final result was
not as clear as one may have hoped, it was still a pleasure for fans who had not
seen the film in nearly 20 years since the original VHS rental releases had long
been out of print. I remember covering the 20th anniversary airing of
“The Lathe Of Heaven” and having been a fan of the book I had a conversation
with one of the executives at PBS and we mutually agreed that they got the book
right. So I have the book in my library and the DVD in my personal collection as
well as the PBS press screener I reviewed two years ago and never expected
another film version would ever happen.
Then earlier this year I became aware
that a remake was underway as a co-production between A&E Network Studios
and Alliance Atlantis Entertainment. With
the exception of maybe Sci-Fi, if there is a cable network that is going to
remake the film for television, I could not think of a better network than
A&E and was even excited to learn that Bruce Davison was involved as a
Co-Producer on the project. The results have Lukas Haas stepping into the role
of “George Orr” with James Caan playing “Dr. Haber” and Lisa Bonet as
“Heather Lelache.” David Strathairn has an enigmatic role as “Mannie,”
the only other person who appears to have an understanding of what “George
Orr” is going through and Sheila McCarthy adds a nice touch as a foil of sorts
for James Caan’s character.
“Lathe Of Heaven” is not as close
an adaptation of the novel as the original TV film. In fact it strays away quite
a bit while still retaining for the most part the soul of the novel. What
troubled me about the film are the omissions. Every time George Orr has an
“Effective Dream,” which this movie dubbed as a feeling of being
“Squeezed,” there is always a consequence, which the new film addresses for
the most part, but not entirely. For instance when Haber asks George to dream
him a room with a view so to speak, the acid rain filled world is suddenly
changed into this sunny beautiful city. What the new film neglects to mention is
that there has been a drought for years in this alternate reality. It is the
gradual build up from the dreams that yield the increasing tension between the
wills of George Orr and Dr. Haber. This is presented with evocative changes in
production design by Sylvain Gingras and Emmy® Nomination Worthy costume
designs by Liz Vandal. Angelo Badalmenti provides the hypnotic music score that
is a bit of a departure from his previous scores that he composed for filmmaker
David Lynch.
What works in terms of casting are
Lukas Haas, who is a worthy successor to the role Bruce Davison originated 22
years earlier and Lisa Bonet as “Heather Lelache,” who conveys a lot a
subtly in her performance, often saying more just through her body movement and
expressionistic eyes, which adds greater depth to her character’s somewhat
subdued dialogue. What only works somewhat is James Caan’s interpretation of
“Dr. Haber.” He comes off
slightly too malevolent instead of comforting, which makes the gradual change
and obsession that develops in the character come off more or less forced. Dr.
Haber is not an evil man and he certainly doesn’t believe he is evil. His
motivations stem from the very human faults of masking his own greed for power
and control, which originate from his belief that the changes he is making are
for the betterment of humanity. While Conway pulled it off in the original film,
I do not think Caan quite reaches that important character point.
David Strathairn’s “Manny”
appears to take the place of the aliens that appear in the book and original
film, but were omitted from this remake. The problem here is that unless you
read the book or have seen the previous film adaptation, I am not sure if people
are going to understand his character’s role as it relates to George’s
journey through the film. I am not entirely pleased by this change too because I
think it somehow misdirects the story more when it should ground it. Strathairn
does a great job in the film. I just think the character should not have
replaced elements that made the book and original TV movie so well rounded and
esoteric if not profound. The film should have stuck closer to the book and been
expanded into a two-night miniseries instead of a TV movie. “The Lathe Of
Heaven” has so much allegory and humanity in it that 90 minutes just doesn’t
do the book justice.
So as a whole I found A&E “Lathe
Of Heaven” to be an inspired adaptation of the book that I hope will motivate
viewers to go out and read it and on it’s own merits “Lathe Of Heaven” is
good science fiction storytelling in an era where all we get are endless space
operas, but I think those familiar with the book or the original TV film might
be somewhat disappointed.
“Lathe Of Heaven” will make its
World Premiere on A&E on Sunday, September 8, 2002, at 8pm (ET/PT)/7pm
(CT). Despite my reservations I still think “Lathe Of Heaven” is a very good
TV movie worth seeing, even more than once.
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.