far from heaven [B+]

moviemcpeake snippet: I knew absolutely nothing of this movie except that according to the Golden Globes, Julianne Moore gave a better performance in this over "The Hours." That was enough to buy a ticket.

Interesting enough she plays a 50s Housewife, which happens to be the same thing she played in "The Hours." Here are my collected thoughts about films where the heroine is a 50s Housewife...
The first movie to ever really capture the 50s Housewife, I believe, is "Pleasantville." Not only did this movie show how stoic the 50s Housewife was but it displayed how she yearned for something more and was conflicted by her duties as a wife and her duties to herself. Her duties as a wife were combined with her duties to society, a society that valued women on how well they baked and threw a party. The 50s consisted of the made-up world that most Housewives displayed to others and a dark, lonely world that was behind closed doors. This is not to say that people no longer put up fronts or that the art of baking is not appreciated but all the same it seems to be the common struggle of 50s Housewives portrayed in films.

So my question to myself was, what was going to make this Housewife different? Nothing really. Different secrets and made-up world, but the same internal battle. Moore and Dennis Quad gave solid performances. All the actors gave solid performances to make the story and situations believable, make them likeable or make you despise them. I wonder if the Globes decided they just couldn't have all three women (Kidman, Moore, and Streep) nominated for the same movie? But I really feel that Laura Brown (The Hours) outshines Cathy Whitaker (Far From Heaven).

I believe this movie to be interesting. Interesting to see the double standards thrown left and right. Interesting to see views on "non-standard" relationships. I just wanted to see something that brought a more memorable performance of the 50s Housewife. I left with a reminder that the 50s Housewife is long in the past but sadden that we still have yet a long way to go before pretenses and prejudices are a thing of OUR past.

recommendation: check it out.