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Stephanie
Daley
PARK CITY -- "Stephanie
Daley" is a muted psychological mystery where filmmaker Hilary
Brougher's
interest in "solving" a possible crime is superseded by her
investigation into matters involving denial, free will and the physical and
emotional burdens of pregnancy.
Plot points and characters dovetail a little too neatly to reach the
intended
philosophical core of her movie. Nevertheless, the film, yet another
dramatic
competition entry to come out of the Sundance Labs, will strike emotional
and
intellectual chord with some adult audiences, especially women.
The movie is designed as a two-hander about two very different women going
through a personal crisis that involves a pregnancy. Stephanie Daley (Amber
Tamblyn) is a shy though popular high school student, who gets seduced by an
older guy at a party. Some time later, during a class outing to a ski
resort,
she unexpectedly gives birth in a restroom stall to a baby that is later
found
dead. Although she insists she did not kill her baby, she comes under
investigation for murder.
Several months later, forensic psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is
hired
by the prosecutor to determine Stephanie's mental competence. As it happens,
the
fortysomething Lydie is pregnant and is taking things very carefully after a
previous late-term miscarriage.
The interrogation slowly brings out Stephanie's
story in flashback. The movie is thus able to examine how each woman copes
with
her pregnancy. Despite missing her period, Stephanie refuses to find out if
she
is truly pregnant. She believes God is testing her. Hers is a troubled
household, as her mom and dad don't get along, so there is no one in whom
she
can confide.
Lydie, too, has a shaky marriage. She wonders whether her husband Paul
(Timothy
Hutton) is having an affair. A much stronger reality is that she has never
dealt
with her grief over losing the last baby before rushing into a new
pregnancy.
Both women feel a loss of control over their lives. Questions about God and
fate
mingle with denial in each case. Stephanie denies she knew she was pregnant;
Lydie denies the burden she carries from the last pregnancy. Swinton and
Tamblyn
give solid performances, never showy or sentimental but honest to their
characters' fragility. The moment of truth for both, when Stephanie reveals
her
memory of what happened in that toilet stall, is one that causes each woman
to
accept her individual responsibility. Hutton brings a sense of ambivalence
and
vulnerability to Paul without making him a cad.
Location work in upstate New York is fine thanks
to
David Morrison's sometimes claustrophobic cinematography and designer Sharon
Lomofsky's unsettling interiors.
STEPHANIE DALEY
RedBone Films/Silverwood Films
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Hilary Brougher
Producers: Sean Costello, Lynette Howell, Samara Koffler, Jen Roskind
Executive producers: Tilda Swinton, Doug Dey
Director of photography: David Morrison
Production designer: Sharon Lomofsky
Music: David Mansfield
Costume designer: Kurt & Bart
Editor: Keith Reamer
Cast:
Lydie Crane: Tilda Swinton
Stephanie Daley: Amber Tamblyn
Paul: Timothy Hutton
Frank: Denis O'Hare
Joe: Jim Gaffigan
Jane: Deirdre O'Connell
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 91 minutes
www.hollywoodreporter.com
2006
Sundance Film Festival: Reviews
Jan.
27, 2006
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