Stone stars in 'conventional' 'Gloria' from Sidney Lumet

Stone stars in 'conventional' 'Gloria' from Sidney Lumet

By Tam Notosusanto

JAKARTA (JP): Dog Day Afternoon. Network. Serpico. Murder on
the Orient Express. The Verdict. These are some landmarks of
1970s and early 1980s American cinema. And they all came out of
the able hands of veteran director Sidney Lumet.

In the last decade of the 20th century, however, Lumet's name
has, unfortunately, been associated with some mediocre films he
directed, such as Family Business (a caper movie with
Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman), Guilty as Sin (a Don Johnson-
Rebecca De Mornay thriller vehicle), and the infamous A Stranger
Among Us (in which Melanie Griffith plays a cop who infiltrates a
Jewish community. Don't ask).

But Lumet is back in top form. After the much-praised
courtroom drama Night Falls on Manhattan (1996), the 75-year-old
filmmaker has emerged with his latest work: a remake of Gloria, a
1980 movie made by another American master, the late John
Cassavetes.

Lumet's new film opens as the title character walks out of a
Florida penitentiary, released on parole after doing three years.
Gloria (Sharon Stone) returns to New York City to see her hoodlum
boyfriend, Kevin (Jeremy Northam), for whose crime she had
actually been jailed.

Infuriated by his rejection and unapologetic demeanor, she
leaves. But on her way out sees a little boy sitting in Kevin's
office and overhears Kevin's thugs planning to kill the child.

Instinctively, Gloria grabs 7-year-old Nicky Nunez (Jean-Luke
Figueroa) and flees, only realizing later on that she has put her
own life on the line.

Nicky is wanted by Kevin's gang because he holds a disk stolen
by his father containing information that would be harmful for
the underworld organization Kevin belongs to if it were to reach
the authorities. This is all explained in the film's early scene,
depicting the cold-blooded massacre of Nicky's entire family,
which Lumet presents in an taut, suspenseful way.

The film proceeds with a familiar child-in-peril formula, a
recipe recycled by the likes of Witness and the more recent
Mercury Rising, with a grownup character -- be it Harrison Ford
or Bruce Willis -- running along on the dangerous trek.

In Gloria's case, however, Gena Rowlands played the feminine
child protector in the 1980 version. And Sigourney Weaver copied
it for Aliens, in which the image of her battling evil creatures
with a huge machine gun in one arm while carrying a little orphan
girl in the other made her a much-celebrated female icon of the
late 1980s.

Stone obviously tries to fill Rowland's shoes, as she did
Simone Signoret's for the remade Diabolique (1996). She mostly
gives a fine portrayal as an impulsive, vulnerable woman
with survival instincts. But, sadly, in scenes that demand more
depth, she only responds with a superficial performance.
Struggling to consistently sound New Yawk and look as teary eyed
as possible, her Gloria appears as a character but never a
believable, complete person.

Stone's costars complement her sufficiently, though not
impressively. Newcomer Figueroa is a cute, pouty face with the
talent for abrasive talk, but is never engaging enough for us to
feel deep sympathy for his character. British actor Northam
(Emma, The Net, Mimic) does a better New York accent than Stone,
and with his goatee and overall Bruce Springsteen look, is a
dapper, menacing villain. Nevertheless, his whole appearance in
the film is not as arresting as the brief turn by George C. Scott
as the mob big boss. In fact, the momentary presence of Cathy
Moriarty (Raging Bull) as a husky-voiced madame and Bonnie
Bedelia (Die Hard) as Gloria's estranged sister leave more
impression than the lead stars.

Steven Antin's screenplay combines thriller (Gloria and the
boy being chased by murderous bandits) and melodrama (the two
fugitives gradually becoming fond of each other). It may
disappoint a thrill-seeking audience who expects the usual bloody
climax found in most suspenseful flicks, but Antin's work is, in
fact, a well-written, narrative-driven piece.

And Lumet is just the right man for the director's chair. He
is never tempted to give the film a 1990s flair. Retaining
Cassavetes' low-profile essence, this Gloria does not have smart
dialog, avant garde storytelling or diabolical, ingenious
characters. It's just a story conventionally told, with
conventionally drawn people, forming a conventional-looking film.
Watching it is like watching one of those ordinary films from the
1970s and 1980s. But hey, it works just fine. Sometimes it's all
we need.