Hush (PG-13)

Jessica Lange, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jonathon Schaeck

Review: *1/2 out of **** (D+)

I guess I could have seen this coming. Hush is a rather dubious production with the most set problems since Titanic; without the positive results. Test screenings went terribly, the script was constantly being changed around during shooting, and the film was delayed from its 1997 release so they could reshoot the ending. Still, I closed my eyes to all of the production faults, and focused on the well constructed preview trailer and the fact that I would get the privelage of seeing seasoned actress Jessica Lange go wacko.

Movies like this are not about breaking from the formula- they're about the execution of the formula. The audience becomes aware of the evil-doings of a certain character, and is given all the needed info within the first ten minutes. Then, the film should build suspense gently by increasing the seriousness of the deeds of our villain, which has incorporated him or herself into the lives of our unsuspecting heroes. Then, in the end, everything explodes in a chilling, loud, violent climax that, if the build-up of suspense was done well, should have the viewer clutching the arms of his or her chair. Best case scenario; The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. Worst case scenario; Hush.

Jessica Lange quickly introduces herself as the villain; a protective mother-in-law named Martha (Martha Stewart she ain't) who is none too pleased when her son Jackson (Jonathon Schaek, always grinning from ear to ear) brings home a New York bride named Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow). Right off the bat, however, we are not sure what Lange, or the movie for that matter, is up to. Something tricky, something devious, something nasty, the film tells us. The only problem is that Hush never gets around to doing anything. It jogs in place, staring at the many paths that it has created, never choosing to go down one. At best, Hush would walk slowly down one path, change its mind, backtrack, and start over. The reshoots and production problems are all painfully obvious (did anyone notice that the many stages of Paltrow's pregnancy aren't in order? And what was with that wig?), and the direction is very sloppy and (hate to say it) unprofessional.

The screenplay is hackneyed, as expected, but isn't all that bad. The blame goes to director Jonathon Darby for failing to use his scenery and actors to create the overall sense of tension that the plotline was failing to provide. I got the feeling that Hush was a different movie when shooting began (which does explain the incorporation of all this talent). Tempting scenes from the preview are missing from the final cut, and I would have loved to see them. There is virtually no violence in Hush, which is not a bad thing if the screenplay didn't call for it. Instead of going wild and crazy in the end a la Hand That Rocks The Cradle, the movie just stands there, trying to maintain its ridiculous PG-13 rating. In fact, the film's final fifteen minutes are so poorly written, directed, acted, and structured that you were sure someone must have snuck into the editing room and cut up the movie...you know, as a practical joke. Ha ha.

Acting is decent as far as allowed (not far), especially by Lange. But, despite all of her evil twitching and glaring, her performance was restrained when it should have been wild. It was like watching a lion that hasn't been allowed to run free in decades being concealed in a very small cage. She wanted to go insane, she wanted her character to snap and turn homicidal on Paltrow, but the script wouldn't allow it. Gwyneth Paltrow does her stuff, nothing special- your basic phoned in performance. She has one good scene where she finally discovers the devious way from the aforementioned mother-in-law from hell, but that's about it. Jonathon Schaeck plays a raving moron, who doesn't do anything that a normal person would do, mainly because the story revolves around his stupidity.

Tonight, I plan to rent The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Fatal Attraction, and Single White Female to shake off the effects on one of the biggest disappointments in recent years. Never before have shaky executives and trigger happy film editors destroyed a movie which could have been so great, and I intend to view some best case scenarios before I go to my room, close my eyes, and dream of the movie that could have been.