Far From Heaven

Greatly influenced by the melodramas of Douglas Sirk, Far From Heaven sees the formidable Julianne Moore weighing in with one of the most impressive performances of her staggering career. An intensely emotional piece of work, Far From Heaven is set in the well-to-do Connecticut town of Hartford in 1957, where Cathy Whitaker (Moore) is the good-hearted, politically correct queen of middle class society. On the surface, she seems to have it all. Married to the handsome advertising whizz Frank (Quaid in the form of his career), Cathy has two well behaved children and a plethora of social gatherings to take up her time. Yet problems are simmering beneath this perfect facade. Frank is finding it difficult to reconcile himself to facets of his character and has taken to drinking excessively. Meanwhile, Cathy's friendly relationship with her gardener (Haysbert) is frowned upon by other members of her social class, unable to understand what a white woman and a black man could possibly have in common.

Unashamedly melodramatic in scope, content and delivery, Far From Heaven nonetheless welds an honest, emotional weight that is rarely seen in mainstream American filmmaking. It's an unusual film in that the writer-director wisely never attempts to temper the material with the vestiges of irony, while the vividly luxurious cinematography recreates the era with astounding, almost unworldly, beauty. Still, Hayes has written an actor's script and no-one is more commanding than Moore, whose disintegration over the course of two hours is painful to watch. For all the best reasons, though.