"The Human Stain" asks audiences to swallow a lot. In fact, it asks them to swallow more than humanly possible.
For one thing, this socially conscious drama tries to pass off Nicole Kidman — as refined an actress as there is working today — as trailer trash. And as fine an actress as she is, that's just not possible.
But that's far from the film's most unbelievable aspect. It also tries to convince us that Anthony Hopkins could possibly be . . . well, that would be giving a key plot point away, which is pretty unfair.
Suffice to say that it's an even bigger stretch.
There's some powerful, thought-provoking material here that deserves considerably better treatment. The film is based on Philip Roth's best-selling novel, about Coleman Silk (Hopkins), a New England classics professor who's recently lost his wife and his job, after allegedly uttering a racial slur.
Consequently, he's embittered and looking for a new purpose in his life. He's recently befriended Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise, who also narrates), an author with writer's block. And he's begun seeing Faunia Farley (Kidman), a much younger woman.
But the latter relationship is far from trouble-free. Both have serious issues that keep them from fully committing to each other. And her abusive, estranged husband (Ed Harris) has returned, bringing with him the threat of violence.
The film contrasts the main story line with flashback sequences about Coleman when he was much younger (Wentworth Miller). Actually, those plot threads are considerably more involving than the current-day stuff. And though screenwriter Nicholas Meyer has crafted a literate adaptation, Robert Benton's aloof direction keeps everything at arm's length.
It doesn't help that both Hopkins and Kidman are so woefully miscast. (To his credit, Hopkins does his best to make us buy into the more far-fetched story elements, but the same can't be said about Kidman.)
The supporting cast fares much better. Both Sinise and Harris are solid, as usual, and up-and-coming actor Miller succeeds where Hopkins cannot.
"The Human Stain" is rated R for occasional use of strong sexual profanity and crude sexual slang terms, violence (boxing, fisticuffs and vehicular), full female nudity, simulated sex and use of some racial epithets. Running time: 106 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com